


The Epic Adventure

by NetRaptor



Series: NetRaptor's AU Sonicverse [13]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Apocalypse, Friends to Enemies, Game Adaptation, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-21 11:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 38
Words: 86,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10684293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NetRaptor/pseuds/NetRaptor
Summary: An adapt of Sonic Adventure. When Sonic and Tails head south to Station Square, they uncover a new plot of Robotnik's that involves a strange water elemental called chaos. But can they possibly thwart Robotnik and his pet when they can't seem to keep the chaos emeralds out of their hands?





	1. The destruction of the Master Emerald

Sonic was restless. 

There was nothing new about that--his friends and neighbors would have worried about him had he acted content--but today he was more restless than usual. 

He stood at the southern window of Knothole's community hut (conveniently near the cooler vent), and watched the sun slip from sight beyond the trees to the right. The blue hedgehog's eyes closed part way, and he watched the southern horizon, one foot tapping idly. 

An attractive female squirrel approached and stood beside him, following his gaze into the fading southern sky. After a moment she slipped her small hand into his big one and asked, "What's the matter, Sonic?" 

The hedgehog didn't answer for a moment, his narrowed eyes still fixed on the horizon. Then he said quietly, "I can't get Mecha out of my head." 

A month earlier, Sonic and Metal Sonic had had a run-in while both were attacking a monster that had dared them to do so. 

"What about him?" 

"Well," Sonic said, "he said to keep my eyes open and watch the Floating Island and the southern cities. We don't have any contact with the bands down there. I have no idea what Mecha meant, but ..." he turned and looked at Sally, who returned his gaze. "Sal, I've gotta figure out what he meant." He brushed past her and walked away, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. He was going stir crazy with no Robotropolis to burn his energy. 

The blue hedgehog crossed the room to a bookcase and took a rolled paper from the top shelf. This he carried to a table and spread out. Sally walked up and looked at it. 

It was one of the maps Sonic had picked up during his 'exile' the winter before. It showed cities, towns and roads that were too far south for the Freedom Fighters to know much about. Sonic placed his hands on the table and leaned over the map, studying it closely. After a while he drew Sally's attention with a single muttered word. "Humans!" 

"What?" 

He tapped a large meeting of roads with a forefinger--it was the only large city on the whole map. "This city is populated mainly by humans. Sapphire City. Population eighty thousand. Warm climate. Mountains all around, some so high as to have snow year round ... like the Ice Cap range, up here." Sonic's voice was sharp and robot-like as he rapped out the facts. "Mobians welcome. No reservations necessary. Open during business hours." 

"The city?" 

"No, their office." Sonic stood and turned toward the window, chewing his upper lip thoughtfully. "Humans. You know, I've heard about the big Overlander settlements. Some people hate 'em and some have no prob." 

Sally saw the glint in his eyes and felt her heart sink. "You've got that itch again." 

"Oh no, Sal," Sonic said innocently. "The powder took care of that." 

She gave him a squint that was smaller than a smile. "Ha." 

He looked out the window again. "It's a big city. You know, Robotnik saw to it that he slaughtered his own kind during the Great War ... that's why there aren't any Overlanders around here anymore. So, if I were a mad scientist who wanted to be a dictator, I would try to wipe out my kind--they'd have the most chances of stopping me--and take their city along the way. After all, I HAVE lost MY captured city ..." 

Sally felt a chill run down her back. Sonic had a point. 

The hedgehog leaned his elbows on the window frame, but continued to speak aloud. "I could take Tails and run down there ... It'd be just like old times. I can't bear to be around here, anyway, with Knux gone and nothing to do. Maybe if I get into some good old-fashioned trouble I'd feel better." 

"Go ahead," Sally replied. "Take a couple weeks and make a vacation of it. I can hold down the fort here." 

He turned and smiled at her, then dashed for the door. 

* * *

"Hey Tails, I'm gonna go on a trip, wanna come?"

The young golden furred fox pulled his head out of the bi-plane's engine housing and looked up at the hedgehog. His fur was matted with grease and oil, and he looked happy. "No, 'fraid I can't," Tails said with regret, shaking his head. "I've almost got the Tornado working and I can't leave it. Where you going?" 

Sonic's spines drooped. "You DON'T want to come?" he asked in disbelief. "I was thinking it'd be just like old times ... you and me ..." 

"Where you going?" Tails repeated. 

"Sapphire City," Sonic replied glumly. "About a hundred and twenty miles from here. You sure you don't want to come?" 

"Positive," Tails replied with a half-grin. "I've got stuff to do. I can do stuff on my own now." 

Sonic flinched inwardly. He didn't want to have his sidekick grow up and away from him. It hurt. He turned away to hide the pained, betrayed look he knew he was wearing. "Okay, suit yourself," he said, trying to sound cheerful and failing miserably. "I'm leaving tonight. See you in a few weeks." He vaulted over the junkyard fence and was gone. 

Tails knew he had hurt his friend's feelings and was sorry. Well, he would give Sonic a two-day head-start, and then surprise him by showing up in the repaired Tornado. Sonic had given up all hope of it ever flying again--Tails would show him! 

* * *

As a blue hedgehog set out at a run toward the south, in the southwestern  
sky, over the sea, hovered a chunk of earth and rock known as the Floating  
Island.

It was far from its usual territory. The guardian had broken up with the Freedom Fighters a month before over a misunderstanding that had flared up into an all-out war. Knuckles and Sonic remained edgy toward each other, and tonight Knuckles had decided that a change of scenery was in order. But that was not the only reason for the move. 

Knuckles had been out exploring the Marble Garden ruins the previous day. One of the island's five inhabitants, a young anteater named Talon (of whom Knuckles was fond) had reported seeing a sort of shrine or alter, covered with vines and crumbled with age. It looked as if it had been used for holding the Master Emerald. This had caught Knuckles' attention. He had known for some time that the Master Emerald had not always been enthroned in Hidden Palace, far beneath the ground. It had been moved there for protection after the disaster that had closed the the elegant Palace to all but the Guardian. What that disaster was Knuckles was not sure, but he knew it had led directly to the disappearance of his ancestors. 

After a lengthy search of the area Talon had indicated (it was heavily overgrown with brush and vines), Knuckles at last located the shrine. It was built like a small pyramid, forty feet tall, with a flat top. In this area was a low stone pedestal with an indented top, obviously made for seating the gigantic gem. It had once had a roof of some kind--there were the stumps of support pillars around the top of the shrine--but it had crumbled long ago. The edges of the pyramid were flanked with what had been elaborate fountains, with the higher bowls pouring into the lower ones, but the water had long since dried up. As Knuckles examined the stonework and carvings, something dawned on him. The elements alone had not wrecked this place. It had been destroyed. Many of the stone walls were blackened, as if burned. In the grass around the foot of the pyramid Knuckles found pillars--obelisks--that he guessed had encircled the pyramid from a distance. Each had been cracked and thrown down by some terrific force. Perhaps from a war ...? 

Despite the carnage the area seemed to have suffered, Knuckles decided to return the Master Emerald to its original pedestal. It would be easier to direct the island that way, with a clear view of the sky and horizon. 

This was why the island was so far from familiar ground that fateful evening. If something went wrong, Knuckles had no wish for his former friends to learn of it. 

Moving the Master Emerald about was not a task to be taken lightly, as it weighed close to a ton and was an awkward shape to lift. But Knuckles and the Chaotix managed to lift it from its bed in Hidden Palace, lug it through a teleporter (which set them down on top of the pyramid), roll it to the dent and shove it in. The gem settled into the groove as easily as a door into a frame, obviously made for it. It had a kind of elegance sitting there in the weathered stone, the sky overhead ... 

It made Knuckles nervous. 

So unprotected, so vulnerable to attack ... it had been stolen once. The horror of the memory returned to him as he stood there looking at the gem. 

Which was why the next evening, as Sonic made tracks for Sapphire City, Knuckles sat a few steps down from the top of the pyramid, back to his precious Emerald and face to the sunset. He had promised himself to let the Master Emerald stay put for a week, then return it to Hidden Palace. His friends had worked too hard to move it back so soon. Until then, he would stand guard over it ... 

His red head nodded, dreadlocks drooping. He dozed for a moment, then shook himself awake. There was a breeze in his face. It would drift the island over the mainland, if it hadn't already. He needed to secure the stationary-hover mechanisms ... he drooped again. In a minute. He would do it in a minute. 

He was awakened by a boom like the firing of a cannon and a colossal crack and smash of breaking glass. He leaped to his feet and whirled. Most of the twilight was gone and the breeze had grown to a respectable wind, but Knuckles could care less about his environment. His stunned eyes were fixed on what was left of the Master Emerald; a fractured shell, shards sprinkling the ground. There wasn't much left of it. To the right of the shattered gem a shadowy creature stood in silence. 

It was vaguely humanoid in form--two arms, two legs, a head. But its head was oval-shaped with two--horns? Feelers?--protruding from the back and extending down to its waist. It had no face to speak of, but had two large green gem-like eyes, without pupils or lids. It was perhaps five feet tall. 

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, leaping up on the platform with it. "Did you do that?" 

As he drew closer, he saw that its body was translucent; he could see through it in places. Its skin was rippling and wavering in the breeze like water. Or WAS it water? It had no insides, save a blob between its eyes that was probably its brain. Bubbles rose inside its feet and arms, as if it were carbonated. It was weird, and it had smashed the Master Emerald. Knuckles swung at it. 

His blow was blocked by an out-flung arm; his fist splashed through it. The other arm dealt him a smack to the shoulder and chest that sent him flying. 

Knuckles bounced and rolled down the hundred steps of the pyramid to the ground. He righted himself at the bottom, bruised and furious. "All right, that's it!" he raged, charging back up the stairs. He arrived in time to see the thing melt into a large puddle, then seep through the cracks in the brick and vanish. 

Suddenly, from all around him, Knuckles felt the island groan and tremble. Its support was gone, and the super emeralds alone could not keep it airborne for long. They were going to crash. Another thought came to him, one that chilled his blood; ten to one the wind had pushed them over the coast, as well. If the island hit the ground, it would splinter and kill everyone on and under it. 

The echidna threw himself to his hands and knees, gathering up the shattered pieces of the Master Emerald. Maybe he could rebuild it before the reserve power was used up. He tossed the pieces randomly into the shell, and they immediately fused in. By the time the guardian had picked up every piece in sight, only a quarter had been replaced. "Where's the rest?" he panted, looking about frantically. He leaped from the pyramid and searched about on the ground, but in the darkness could find nothing. Again the island shifted beneath his feet, like a kite when the wind has died. It wouldn't be long now-- 

He returned to the top of the shrine, genuinely afraid. If only there was enough left of the emerald to steer the island! He lifted a fragment that he landed on the pedestal, held it out at arm's length westward, and waited. 

The island shifted imperceptibly and began to drift west. But it began to descend as well, like a balloon with little helium left. Knuckles bit his lip, feeling the dizzy sensation of dropping in an elevator. If only he could make it out to sea--if only he were not above the mainland as his instincts told him he was--the island dropped faster, faster. Knuckles felt as if his feet would lift from the ground. "C'mon, move, baby, move!" 

The distant silvery line of the ocean on the horizon was rising. If he could just make it--falling, falling-- 

  
With a shock that sent the echidna to his knees and swayed every tree in the forests, the Floating Island touched down--in the water. A tremendous tidal wave swept away from the base, then swept back with a thunderous boom of breakers. The island rocked slightly from end to end, and then was still. 

Relieved, Knuckles stood, tossed the fragments into the shell of the Master Emerald, then turned for a look at his distance from the coast. He stiffened and drew a sharp breath in shock. 

The coastline was not five hundred feet from the edge of the island. He could see the mountains, trees and rocks there, and the high cliffs along the beach, their tops on level with him. Even now, the base of the island probably rested on the continental shelf. 

He had escaped instant death by perhaps two seconds.


	2. Encountering humans

That fateful night had just begun.

The region the Floating Island had been overshadowing when the emerald exploded was none other than Sapphire Bay, which adjoined the city on it's coast. The island had traveled a good eight miles during its descent, and had landed near the sub-tropical forested area known as the Mystic Ruins. The ruins of a great (but extinct) civilization were buried somewhere deep in the jungle, hence the name. The jungle also sheltered a few scattered Mobians, some of whom frequented the city by means of the train station on the cliffs. But most kept largely to themselves. 

One of these was a cat named Big. 

He was curled in a furry ball on his bed, eyes closed. He batted an ear at a resounding boom in the distance as a million tons of rock hit the ocean, but did not awaken. The bed was built of rough wood, sheltered by a framework of the same, with palm fronds laid across the top as a roof. The back wall was provided by a huge hollow tree stump, broken off twenty feet above the ground. Nailed onto this and extending out to form a sort of wall on the right was a carefully constructed rack with three fishing poles resting in it. Set neatly at the foot of the rack was a tackle box. 

The night deepened, the stars burning down with unearthly light. The cat slept without moving, perhaps twitching an ear or tail-tip once in a while. He had nothing to fear in his home, and his enormous size discouraged all possible attackers, anyway. 

The sky began to lose its blackness and fade toward blue, and a fresh breeze stirred the warm air. For the first time there came movement from the shelter, and from under the bed hopped a frog. 

It was a large frog, but dwarfed beside the cat above it. It sat for a moment, yellow bulging eyes gazing at the world, unblinking, front toes turned in. Then it hopped down the slight hill to the stream that flowed below. 

Unexpectedly the waters of the stream bulged and flowed uphill onto the bank. It formed into a huge water drop and rose into the air, solidifying into the same creature who had attacked Knuckles. The frog faced it, goggly-eyed, and croaked curiously. 

The creature returned to a puddle, oozed forward and surrounded the frog. It held it for a few moments, who kicked and struggled. The water released it, flowed back into the stream and vanished. The poor frog sat still, bewildered. From its hind end protruded a tail, where one had not existed since its tadpole days. 

Up in the shelter, the cat's yellow eyes opened. He sat up and stretched. His fur was a violet blue with black tiger-stripes, and his furry chest was white. He yawned and pulled on his sandals, size 25, and stood. "Froggy?" he called, looking about in the pre dawn gloom. His voice was very low, to match his size. His cat-eyes spotted the frog near the stream, still dazed. "Froggy," Big called, "you're looking kinda weird, buddy." 

The frog turned and hopped rapidly up the hill toward Big, but leaped past him, grabbed a yellow jewel off a hook on the rod rack and swallowed it. "Hey," Big protested. "You just swallowed my lucky charm!" Froggy was not about to stop there. He jumped away down the hill and disappeared in the direction of the beach. 

By this time, it had occurred to Big that his friend was not well. The cat scrambled up to the rack, selected his favorite pole and three lures, then set out after the truant frog, calling, "Don't worry Froggy, I'm coming!" 

* * *

As the sun rose, a small blue and orange bi-plane hummed through the sky  
toward Sapphire City. Tails sat in the cockpit, the wind blowing his eats  
and forelock about. The engine's hum was of a different pitch than before  
because of the new machinery, but the Tornado's body was the same and handled  
beautifully. Tails had built in a few new things with Rotor's help, such  
as an entire new body mode, but that was for battles, not everyday flying.

The young fox turned his head and looked at the city in the distance. Time to see if they had an airport. He picked up his radio and said, "Skyfox to tower, Skyfox to tower, come in, please." 

After a moment of static, a reply crackled, "Tower to Skyfox. We have you on radar. What is your destination?" 

"Requesting clearance to land." 

"Are you Mobian?" 

Strange question. "Yes." 

"I'm sorry, but you can't land here. Proceed to the airstrip in Mystic Ruins, 107 North, 255 West. Tower out." 

"Rats," Tails muttered. "Where the heck is 'Mystic Ruins'? I knew all humans were jerks." 

He flew on, navigating for 107N, 255W. His spirits were deflated. He had not expected discrimination. At least he still had enough fuel to get him there. 

The city slid by below, houses, freeways and more. Tails saw that a large amount of the buildings were built several miles inland, on a sort of mountain range a mile from the coast. He also noticed an odd highway built among the tops of the skyscrapers. "What a cool place," Tails thought. "Maybe one day we can make Mobitropolis look like that." 

Another hour of flight left Sapphire City behind. The countryside became rolling and hilly, stretching up toward the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Tails couldn't see anything that looked like a 'Mystic Ruins', but began to notice the trees below were becoming more and more tangled, and the air smelled green. Perhaps it was a jungle. 

"Skyfox to Mystic Ruins, come in, please," he said into his radio. If they wouldn't clear him here, he didn't know what he would do. His fuel gauge was closer to empty than he liked. 

"Mystic Ruins to Skyfox. Destination?" 

"Requesting clearance to land." 

There was a brief pause, then, "Clearance granted. I'll open up the strip for you." 

Tails checked his coordinence and realized he was too far inland. He cruised toward the coast. The coastline was broken into jagged cliffs and looked dangerous. There was a slow train winding its way over the mountain, and in an open area on top of a cliff was a station. A little beyond that was a landing strip that extended out over the ocean. 

Tails circled twice and landed, taxiing to a stop before the single small hanger at the end. As he cut the engines and unbuckled himself, a human exited the hanger and strode out to meet him. Tails watched him suspiciously. The man was about five and a half feet tall and dressed in faded jeans and a denim jacket. He had black hair and black eyes, and a piercing, no-nonsense look about him. Tails received the impression that if this human were a Mobian he would be a fox. 

The human didn't bat an eye at Tails' fur, and shook his hand. "I'm Mac. Welcome to my airstrip. Nice plane." His sharp eyes fixed on the Tornado. He walked around it slowly, examining it from all angles. 

"I'm Tails," the fox said warily. "This is the Tornado's first flight in about five years." 

Mac whistled, kicked a tire and looked into the cockpit. "She been in storage?" 

"The junkyard." 

"Oh really." The man looked at the fox. "Just get her out of the shop?" 

"I rebuilt her, if that's what you mean." 

Mac's eyebrows lifted. "You don't say. You must be quite the mechanic." 

"Sort of," Tails replied. "Why wouldn't they let me land at the airport?" 

Mac shrugged and walked toward the hanger. Tails followed. "Because," Mac said over his shoulder, "they only handle big jets. If they handled smaller craft, it would slow them down--it's a small airport. They asked for your nationality so as to let me know there was a Mobian coming in a bi-plane." 

"Oh." Tails still felt as if he had been redirected because he wasn't human. 

Abruptly the man turned and looked at the young fox. "You gonna refuel?" 

Tails realized he had no human currency with him. "Will you take Mobiads?" 

"Not here. They're useless. You from up north or something?" 

Tails nodded and looked back at his plane. What would he do without fuel? 

He must have looked downhearted, for Mac relented a little. "Look kid," he said, "I've got a couple planes in there that need some work. If you'll get them to fly, I'll fill your plane for free." 

"Cool!" Tails exclaimed, his spirits lifting with a rush. "Sure thing!" 

* * *

Sonic's arrival in Sapphire City was much smoother than Tails'.

With considerable forethought (for him), he first checked in with the customs office and exchanged his money for the currency they used, then made his way to Sunset Resort, a gorgeous hotel on the beach. Their rooms were expensive, but clean and ritzy, and they had a special for Mobians. Sonic checked in, then headed down to the beach. 

The area he was staying in, he learned quickly, was called Station Square. The reason for this was the train station catacorner from Sunset Resort. This and more he learned from talking to passersby. 

It was odd seeing and talking to humans. They were polite and even friendly. Nobody seemed a bit startled at seeing a blue hedgehog in red sneakers. Sonic was more surprised at them than the other way around. He had always imagined humans would be like Robotnik and Snively--always looking for a way to exploit and hurt others--but they were not. There were tall ones and short ones, young and old, boys and girls, friendly and no so friendly. 

Sonic spent the morning amusing himself in this fashion, then went in search of lunch. The sun had grown quite hot, and there was a mild breeze coming off the mainland. Time to explore Station Square. 

The hedgehog gnawed a chili dog as he wandered about the square, looking at the cars, people and buildings. His sense of culture-shock was mild, as he had not forgotten Robotropolis, but it was much different being in a city that was actually inhabited. Diagonal from the hotel was the train station, and across from the hotel was a small elevator-lift that customers used to enter an indoors amusement park called Twinkle Park. Next door to that was a 10-story building with a closed garage-type door. Both led to mysterious places, and both were closed. On the forth side of the square was the ocean, with a dock leading from the pavement out over it. 

Around 2 PM, the humid heat grew too great for Sonic, and he retired to the air-conditioned hotel. Bored, he sat on a chair in the lobby for a few minutes, wondering if there was anything to do. Maybe he should ask around to see if anyone had seen Robotnik or hostile robots. After all, he was here on a mission, not a vacation ... 

The clerk in the receptionist booth noticed him and called, "Can I help you, sir?" 

"Is there anything to do around here?" Sonic responded. 

"Why, yes," the clerk said, pointing to the elevators. "Take the lift to the top floor. That's our chao playroom." 

"Chao?" Sonic asked curiously, rising to his feet. "What's a chao?" 

The clerk smiled. "You've never seen one? You'll be occupied for the rest of the day, then." 

Sonic stepped out of the elevator and found himself in a single room that took up most of the top floor. A skylight shed a large patch of sunshine on a grove of real coconut palms in a real planter. In one corner was an elaborate fountain in a wide, shallow pool. Scattered about the room were human children and chao. Sonic curiously approached a little girl who was holding one of the creatures. 

The chao was about eight inches tall. It had an onion-shaped head with a point on the top, and a soft, pudgy body. It was a light blue. The little girl noticed Sonic looking at her and held the chao up for him to see. "This is Patricia," she told him. "She's a girl. Wanna hold her?" 

"Uh, sure." Sonic gingerly took the chao, afraid of hurting it, and at the same time afraid to hold it close for fear of looking like a sissy. The creature looked at him with big blue eyes and made a purring sound. "She likes you," the girl said, giggling. 

Sonic's first impulse was to drop the chao and run for it, but the girl said, "Hold her for a minute. I'm going to get a coconut. Pat loves coconuts." Reluctantly, he obeyed, and was startled to feel the chao snuggle its soft head under his chin and sigh blissfully. 

The clerk had been right; Sonic spent the rest of the day in the chao playroom, feeding Patricia, and teaching her to walk and swim. She had hatched only a few days before. The girl, who seemed to own the chao, was named Mary and was staying in the floor above Sonic's with her parents and two older brothers. 

By the time night fell and the chao were put to bed for the night, Sonic and Mary were friends. As he rose the elevator back down to the lobby, he thought, "Humans aren't as bad as I had 'em figured for."


	3. Clamor, sirens wailing

Sonic, although amused all afternoon, had spent it mostly without moving. His pent-up energy was clamoring for release; he wouldn't be able to sleep until he had exercised a bit. At least, that was the excuse he gave himself for stepped out into Station Square under the glare of the streetlights.

Nothing of consequence followed during Sonic's two-hour run, other than he ran sideways on storefronts to avoid cars and encountered the Speed Police on the freeway. He managed to shake the sirens and flashing lights by ducking into a fast-food restaurant and eating dinner as the motorcycles screamed by. 

Thus refueled and feeling frisky, he made his way back to Station Square, running along the tops and fronts of the buildings. He arrived on top of the ten-story garage-door building facing the Sunset Resort, drew a deep breath of the cool night air and exclaimed, "Oh yeah, this is great!" 

As he stood on the roof, gazing at the swarming cars and pedestrians in the square below (a late train had arrived), sirens and the screech of tires on pavement reached his ears. He rushed the the far side of the building and looked down. Had the Speed Police tracked him down? No, these were ordinary squad cars, all of which were going somewhere in a hurry. Cool, maybe it was a bank robbery or some other crime they had in big cites. Sonic vaulted from the roof, dropped to a soft grass margin below, and sprinted after the cars. 

The police had parked in a semicircle about the front of City Hall two blocks from Station Square as Sonic jogged up. A helicopter hovered overhead, searchlight trained on the scene. Sonic could see the humans dressed in black and white uniforms kneeling behind their cars, rifles aimed at ... something. "We have you surrounded!" an officer shouted. Sonic craned his neck, but was too short to see over the cars. If there was a shoot-out he would miss it! Thinking quickly, he leaped lightly to the roof of a squad car and watched from there. 

A creature was standing in the courtyard of City Hall. It was about five feet tall and built much heavier than a human. It had no face, but had two large green eyes which gave it an alien appearance. It was a liquid blue and shimmered in the searchlight. 

"Ready men, fire!" the officer ordered. Sonic flinched at the sudden reports of the guns, but kept his eyes on the monster. Its skin rippled as the bullets struck it, but it otherwise seemed oblivious to the attack. A second later, the spent shot fell from its chest and arms and plinked to the sidewalk. 

"Our weapons are useless!" the officer shouted, sounding afraid for the first time. "All personnel, fall back! Retreat!" They fled, and were followed a few minutes later by the helicopter, leaving Sonic alone with the Thing. "These cops are smarter than SWAT-bots, anyway," Sonic muttered to himself. He fixed his attention on the monster. "Okay, mister invincible, it's you and me now!" He jumped from the car and circled the creature. 

Although it had ignored the police, it seemed threatened by Sonic. It whirled to face him as he circled, then lashed at him with an arm. The arm extended ten feet and nearly caught Sonic, but he ducked. "Tricky, aren't we?" he taunted. He zipped in close, curled into a spin and struck its head. 

Instantly the creature's shape dissolved into a wide puddle on the ground. It oozed rapidly to the opposite side of the courtyard and re-solidified into its former shape. "So, you're made of water?" Sonic said, watching. "Well, I'll be darned! That's cool! Not cool enough, though." He darted in for another strike, but was met with a slap that sent him reeling. He recovered his wits and balance, leaped high in the air and shot himself like a blue missile at the monster. Again he struck it, and again it melted. This time it oozed toward the street. "Hey, where ya going, ya big drip?" Sonic challenged, following it. 

The water composing the monster poured over the asphalt, then gushed into a sewer grating and was gone. 

Sonic stepped to the edge of the grating and stood looking down into it. For the first time the area was completely silent--no cars, no yelling, nothing but a quiet drip dripping from far below the grating. That THING was in the sewers somewhere ... 

The hush was broken by a harsh, triumphant voice from a nearby rooftop. "You know nothing, fool! It's Chaos, the god of destruction!" 

Sonic recognized the voice and whirled, but the speaker had retreated from sight.


	4. Culture shock

Tails awoke, sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had worked late on Mac's planes, and in exchange the human had set up a cot for him in the corner of the hanger. Even now Tails' eyes fell on the gray biplane (his current project), and he sprang out of bed, eager to get to work again. 

Both of the engines were strange prototypes that could run on both liquid fuel and an outside power source. Mac said he had bought them dirt-cheap from a retired inventor, but claimed he wasn't enough of a mechanic to get the planes in working order. Tails was intrigued with the engine designs, seeing at once that the 'outside power source' was a chaos emerald. The knob in the center of the propellers was insulated for this purpose. 

The gray bi-plane was in the worst shape of the two. Tails was sure he could fly it, but many of the engine parts were dirty or worn out. Its emerald power converter was in the best condition of the two, however. The red and white plane had an engine in fair shape, but the converter appeared to have caught fire at one time, and the cockpit controls were rusted over. Both planes could fly in a pinch, but ... 

"Hey kid," Mac called. 

Tails poked his head out of the gray plane's cockpit. "Yeah?" 

"I just got a call from my sister in Sapphire City. I have to go out there for a few days to watch my nephews. I'm gonna leave you to watch the hanger." 

Tails straightened and stared at him. "Really? But you don't even know me!" 

"Oh yeah I do," Mac said, folding his arms. "I ran an identity check on your pilot license. You're a member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and a friend of the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog. I'd say you've got the qualifications to watch an airplane hanger for a few days." 

Tails blinked. Was it really that easy to find all about somebody? "Okay," he said slowly. "Can I fly your planes while you're gone?" 

"If you can get them in the air, I don't care what you do," said Mac as he picked up a duffelbag from the corner and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll expect you to still be around when I get back." 

"I wouldn't run away!" Tails said indignantly. 

"See that you don't," Mac said with a wink, and strode out the door. 

Tails watched him vanish in the direction of the train station (which was just visible from the hanger windows), then flew to his bag, unzipped it and dug around. At the very bottom was a cloth-wrapped object he had brought from home with special permission--the village's blue chaos emerald. 

* * *

As dawn brightened the sky, a culture-shocked echidna sat on a bench and stared about numbly. 

Knuckles had entered the city at four o' clock that morning to search for the pieces of the Master Emerald with the aid of an instinct he brought with him. 

He had spent the last 24 hours training himself to find fragments by instinct alone. He had always been able to sense power sources; he could, for instance, tell by standing anywhere in Lava Reef exactly where Hidden Palace was. He could feel, in a way, the power radiating from the stones therein. But now he had a real use for this ability; he needed it to track down Master Emerald shards. To sharpen this, he had had his friends on the Island hide a fragment for him to find. At first locating it was very difficult, but it grew easier as his sensitivity increased. Confident he would find the missing fragments, he took a knapsack and glided toward Sapphire City. 

But now, as he sat on the bench, he wondered what insanity had kept him from taking the train. He was weary from his two-hour glide and had no idea where he was. He sensed the presence of a few pieces in the area, but at present was too tired and bewildered to find them. His culture-shock was staggering. Here he was, an echidna used to a largely uninhabited island in the sky. All of a sudden he was in the midst of a bustling city, cars whizzing by on the road before him, walled in by hundreds of buildings, surrounded by humans! 

Early as it was, there were perhaps three people within view, and the cars were a minute apart, but it overwhelmed Knuckles just the same. There were no Mobians in sight--just humans. His prejudice against them was as great as Sonic's was; he assumed all humans were evil from long association with Robotnik. Perhaps they would leave him alone if he ignored them. He had better get moving before he was questioned--his fatigue would probably wear off, anyway. 

The crimson echidna stood and turned his head from side to side. He could hear a faint ringing in his head; an emerald piece was making it. It seemed to be coming from somewhere to his left. He slung his empty knapsack over his shoulder and walked slowly along the road, watching and listening. It was getting fainter now: he had passed it. He doubled back. It seemed to be coming from the area before a grocery store. He walked up to it. Closer, but no cigar. It was off to his right now. He turned and walked. The ring grew louder, but his way was blocked by an eight-story office building. He circled it and walked on, but soon returned to the building's foot. Was it INSIDE the building somewhere? Would a human have picked it up? No ... maybe it was on the roof. Yes, that was it. It must be on the roof. He jumped at the cement wall, dug in his knuclaws and started up. 

Several people heard the noisy grating and scratching of his climbing and exited the building. Some called for him to come down, but he ignored them. What did they know? It wasn't until he had nearly reached the roof that he happened to glance down and realized that his claws had torn dark holes in the plaster all the way up. Too late to worry about that now--though maybe next time he would take the elevator. 

The emerald fragment was six inches long and lying in plain sight. The echidna put it in his sack and took a bearing on the next one from his new vantage point. His task wasn't so hard, his hopes were rising, and the effects of his prolonged flight were wearing off. He could get something to eat, later, too. 

The next shard was smaller than the last, and its sound was much softer. Knuckles pinpointed its location by gliding in ever-shrinking circles--it was in an alley. He dropped into it and found to his disgust that the sound was coming from a dumpster. The dumpster was nearly full, and it took a bit of digging to unearth the shard. It was hardly as big as his thumb, and if not for the energy coming off it he would have thought it was a piece of broken glass. So much for 'easy'. 

The sun slowly rose over the mountains as Knuckles hunted. A breeze from the ocean freshened the air, and the sky brightened. Cars filled the streets and pedestrians became more numerous. Knuckles did his best to pay them no attention, but as his work wore on him he began to wonder what food was available in a city of humans. 

By eight o' clock the echidna had found five fragments and could detect no more pieces in the area, so he rewarded himself with donuts and coffee, eaten in the sanctuary of a rooftop above the highway. As he sipped his coffee--a rare treat for him--he noticed a small silver bi-plane in the distance, smoke trailing it its wake. At first he thought it was a stunt plane, but decided otherwise when the plane went into a nosedive and vanished from sight behind the cityscape. "Hope the pilot's okay," he thought indifferently.


	5. Together again

Sonic was lying in a deck chair near the hotel's pool, wondering idly if the chao playroom was open yet, when the hum of an airplane reached his ears. Lazily he opened his eyes and looked about. A gray biplane was just coming into sight around the corner of the hotel, smoke pouring from the engines. Sonic sat up and watched. He had flown malfunctioning biplanes and remembered the helpless terror of careening earthward. The engines sputtered and coughed, the plane tilted, and Sonic glimpsed the pilot. "What? TAILS?" he exclaimed aloud, leaping to his feet. He lifted a hand and cried, "Watch out--you're gonna crash!" even though there was no way Tails would hear him. 

The plane swerved toward the coast in a last-ditch effort to land. It vanished from sight behind the corner of the hotel, and there came a distant crash. Sonic flinched, spines leaping erect and falling limp again. "Oh Tails," he muttered, and made for the beach at an alarmed run. 

The plane had come to earth on a tiny peninsula a good distance away from the Sunset Resort. Sonic paused for a moment, scanning the coast for the quickest way to reach his friend. A dash along the beach would force him to detour around the wharf and docks further down, and he would have to walk--he shuddered at the thought--through the crowds of tourists there. A short distance away was a wooden boardwalk and floating bridge that connected several small islands with the beach, the last of which was twenty or thirty feet from the end of the peninsula. Sonic made for it, sand spraying from his flying feet. 

The hedgehog was so concerned with getting to his friend as quickly as possible that he did not see the tall black fin knifing through the water a short way off the coast. Once on the floating bridge, however, he DID notice when a killer whale--twenty-five feet long from snout to flukes--leaped out of the water, passed right over him and plunged into the water on the other side of the bridge. The waves from the splash passed under the bridge, tossing it up and down and Sonic to his hands and knees. "Stupid fish," he muttered under his breath as he continued running. 

He came to the first island, turned right and was on the next boardwalk. The whale, who had vanished for a moment, suddenly reappeared at Sonic's heels, smashing the wooden boardwalk with its black and white head, pale jaws wide. It gained on him with each massive leap, tearing the boardwalk to splinters. Sonic ran without daring to look back, half afraid and half angry at the beast. Why was it doing this? Was it trying to eat him? 

A sharp turn in the boardwalk. Sonic's small size and agility allowed him to take it almost without slowing; the orca, on the other hand, was forced to swerve wide, unable to keep up with its land-borne prey. Sonic leaped off the dock, splashed down in the shallows and threw himself ashore on the peninsula, seeing in his head nature videos where orcas came up on shore to grab baby seals. He whirled about and stood, but the defeated orca's dorsal fin was just vanishing underwater. Good riddance. 

Sonic now sprinted to the fallen biplane. The nose was crumpled and smoke rose in a thin plume from the engine, but it wasn't damaged too badly. Sonic stood on tiptoe and peered into the cockpit. It was empty. 

After a frantic search, Sonic found his sidekick lying under the tail section. The fox must have leaped clear at the last second and the plane had nearly landed on him. Tails was just beginning to come around. 

Tails groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. It took a moment for his eyes to refocus, but when they did, he found himself staring at a pair of red sneakers. Slowly he looked up. There stood Sonic, one hand extended to help him up. The hedgehog flashed a smile. Tails returned one of his own, took Sonic's hand and stood. 

* * *

A short distance away from the peninsula, underwater, floated a pair of large, lidless green eyes, without a body to frame them. Chaos was made of water and when in the sea had no need of form. The orca had already departed for deeper waters. It had tried to carry out its strange order to devour the blue hedgehog, but had failed--the hedgehog could move much faster than its usual prey, and it had found itself outmatched. Chaos had thanked it for the attempt and sent it on its way. Now he watched the hedgehog and fox with cold hatred. Obviously they had sided with his enemies. Chaos would confront Sonic himself once he was stronger. 

* * *

Tails rummaged around in the cockpit of the wrecked plane, produced a tool kit and set to work removing the propeller. Sonic watched him, one eyebrow lifted. "What are you doing?" 

"Taking the converter off," Tails replied promptly. "It was the engine that caught fire, not the converter. I can still use it." 

"For what?" 

"For using a revolutionary new power source!" the fox exclaimed, pulling off the hub and showing Sonic what was inside. 

"Whoa!" he hedgehog exclaimed in surprise. "A chaos emerald! You bring that from home?" 

"Straight up," Tails replied proudly. "If I can get this prototype to work in a plane, it'll make our Tornado look like a paper airplane. It'll be the fastest biplane in the galaxy!" 

By now Tails was up to his elbows in the engine, unfastening wires and unscrewing bolts. He finally emerged, smudged and greasy, holding a gizmo that looked like a glorified coffeepot. "There," he said triumphantly. "Let's go back to the airstrip in the Mystic Ruins. That's where I've been working." 

The hedgehog and fox set out at a trot along the peninsula. Sonic pointed to the splinters floating in the water and told of the mysteriously hostile killer whale. "You don't see nothing like THAT at Seaworld," he added. 

In return, Tails told Sonic of his flight to Sapphire City and how he was redirected to the Mystic Ruins. He told about Mac letting him take care of the hanger and airstrip. "He was really nice," Tails concluded. "I always thought humans were jerks." 

"I guess not," Sonic replied with a shrug. "Everyone I've met at the hotel so far have been cool. Oh yeah ... except for the monster I saw last night." 

"Monster?" 

Sonic described the weird water-beast, throwing emphasis on the fact that HE had defeated it when the police couldn't. 

By this time the two had made it back to Station Square. "I'll have to show you the chao," Sonic said as they walked through the hotel lobby to reach the street. "They're like a cross between a cat, a teddy bear and a baby. Maybe later, though." 

"Cool." Tails thought they sounded wimpy and wondered how Sonic had swallowed his ego enough to notice them. 

Neither had yet been inside the train station, and found it a bustling place with concession stands, a gift shop and rows and rows of benches for waiting. The roof was made of glass to let in sunlight, and the train tracks ran in one giant doorway and out the other into a covered glass tunnel. 

Sonic bought tickets for them on the next train, which was due in twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes!" he complained to Tails as they walked away from the ticket booth. "That's half a lifetime! What am I gonna DO until then?" 

"Let's look at the gift shop," Tails suggested sensibly. 

The shop was small but jam-packed with everything under the sun, from toys to T-shirts to pencils to shoes. Sonic wasn't interested in the toy rack, as Tails was. He was drawn to the expensive specialty shoes under the counter. One of these was a pair of blue sneakers with a white strap--the same make as his--but embedded in the heels were what looked like large yellow taillights. According to the tag, they made you run faster. "Excuse me," he said to the clerk, "do you have these in red?" 

"Red, green and blue," the clerk replied. 

"Cool," Sonic said, but noticed the price tag for the first time. 250 bucks. The clerk must have seen his enthusiasm fade, for he commented, "Expensive, aren't they?" 

"Just a little," Sonic agreed. "Can you hold a red pair for me, size eight and a half? I can scrape up some cash somewhere." 

"Okay," the clerk said, punching it into the computer. Then he hesitated and looked at the hedgehog. "Are you the hedgehog who battled that monster last night?" 

"News travels fast," Sonic said, grinning. "Sure am. I'm Sonic." 

Now it was the clerk's turn to grin. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! No wonder you're interested in those shoes. Nice to meet you, sir." 

"Ditto," Sonic replied good-naturedly. "I'll probably be back in a day or two." He turned to go and nearly tripped over Tails, who was standing unnoticed at his elbow. 

Sonic regained his balance and apologized, but Tails didn't seem to notice. He was staring at the specialty cabinet. "Sonic, look at those!" he murmured, pointing. Sonic looked. A few spaces down from the speed-shoes were what at first looked like bizarre watches; two rectangular things with vents on them, and with long, thin straps like watchbands. "They're jet anklets," Tails half-whispered. "Strap 'em on you shoes and they shoot you forward. Imagine how fast I could fly!" There was one small problem--they cost four hundred dollars, almost twice as much as Sonic's. 

The two left the gift shop and sat on a bench, wondering where they could earn some money. Neither had come up with any ideas when in the distance, a train whistle shrieked. "Know what's the most exciting sounds in the world?" Sonic asked. 

Tails, who was inhaling the aroma of hot french fries from the food stand, replied, "Breakfast is served, lunch is served, dinner is served." 

"No, no," Sonic said with a smirk. "Train whistles, plane engines and anchor chains." 

The train whizzed into the station with a roar and clatter. The engine pulled out into the tunnel, and the doors to the passenger cars were slid open. A handful of people got off-not many people rode the train at ten o'clock in the morning. Sonic and Tails entered, had their tickets punched and sat down. 

After an endless wait--fifteen minutes--the engine gave a deafening whistle, the cars jerked, and they were off. The two gazed out the windows as they passed through the glass tunnel. "Look!" Sonic said suddenly, pointing. "There's a casino! Right next door to the Sunset Resort!" 

Tails looked. Sure enough, taking an entire cul-de-sac was a brightly painted, towering casino--it was probably a mass of neon lights at night. "Oh no, Sonic," Tails said. "We only have a little money as it is. I know how those things are. Once we get started there's no stopping!" 

"Aw c'mon," Sonic said with his don't-be-a-wimp voice. "We went to that other casino when we were just pups--we didn't know how to act. This is different. Besides, there's things to do besides slot machines." He settled into the padded seat as the train rounded a bend and the casino was blocked from view. "Maybe we can check it out later. Maybe win enough to get those shoes!" 

"Maybe," Tails said darkly, stowing his power converter under his seat and pulling his tails into his lap. 

* * *

No sooner had the train pulled out of the station than another customer entered the gift shop; a six-foot tall purple cat with yellow eyes and fishing pole over one shoulder. The cat gazed at the rack of graphite rods for a moment, then approached the counter. "Hello Big, what can I do for you?" the clerk asked. 

"Can I have some crickets, Bob?" Big asked. "Froggy don't like my lure." 

The clerk lifted a Styrofoam box from beneath the counter and pulled out a lantern-like cage of crawling, chirping crickets. "What's the matter?" the clerk (Bob) asked as Big dug into the moneybag hanging from his belt. "I thought you caught that frog ages ago." 

The cat handed him a few soft bills and said, "I did, but Froggy ran away. He's in a pond in that building across the street." He sighed and shook his head, long ears drooping. "I donno what I'm gonna do." 

"Well, good luck," Bob said, handing him the crickets, "and catch a few big ones along the way." 

"Thanks," Big said, and padded out. 


	6. E-102 Gamma

Miles distant, in a fortress hidden deep in the Mystic Forest, a robotic creature in a construction chamber came to life. 

The first thing its visual circuitry registered was the room directly in front of it. A large, circular room with railing around the hole in the center. Automatically its head swivelled to the left. More of the room and a large glass tube containing a burly blue robot with red eyes. Its head swivelled to the right. Another tube, but with a heavily-built silver hedgehog inside. 

"Ah, it works!" exclaimed a coarse voice. "Look at me!" 

The robot's head tilted downward slightly, bringing the round figure of a mustached human into view. "You are E-102 Gamma," the human said with a motion to the robot's chest. He gestured to himself. "I am your master, Dr. Robotnik. You now obey only me." 

These two commands were dutifully registered in the robot's computer. Self unit = E-102 "Gamma". Master registration = Dr. Robotnik. "Yes, Dr. Robotnik," the robot droned. 

Robotnik began to pace up and down as Gamma watched and listened. "You are one of the elite E-series, built to obey me. You have the ability to learn and program yourself with minimal input from me." That was why Robotnik was telling the robot all this--it was easier than programming it manually. "Your body design is basic, yes, but your brain is a special creation of my own. If you turn out successfully, the world may see more of your kind."If you turn out successfully, the world may see more of your kind." Robotnik walked away. "Take a look around, Gamma. Move about." 

The robot stepped out of the pillar of construction machinery surrounding it and stood a moment. It was an ugly thing to the casual observer. Its body was short and round, its head little more than a flat panel on top. It had two moveable lenses in its head for eyes. Mounted on its head was a small tag laser. On its red-painted chest, above and to the left of the sign '102', was a thick headlight. Its right arm tapered in hydraulic sections to a fairly articulate hand. Its left arm was somewhat bulkier, and instead of a hand it bore a blaster cannon. Its long legs bend backward in the knees like a bird's, and its long black 'feet' were equipped with wheels in the backs. 

Gamma began to slowly stroll about the room, computer taking in how it felt to move and what the limits of balance were. After a few minutes he was quite good at walking and did not stagger or bump into things. Mission accomplished. He swivelled his head about until his visual sensors located his master in the corner. He approached Robotnik and stopped before him. 

Satisfied that Gamma worked properly, Robotnik pressed a button on the wall to open a sliding door to their left. "This leads to the training course," he explained gruffly. "You are to shoot all the targets as quickly and accurately as your programming allows. Your big brother, E-101 Beta, is in there practicing. You are not as advanced as Beta, but you'll do fine." 

Gamma turned, bumped into the wall, backed up and made it through the door successfully. 

Robotnik strode to the computer terminal in the corner to view Gamma's progress through the eyes of the video cameras inside the course. As he did so, a soft, loathing voice said, "Yes master, no master, as you wish master. The E-series sickens me." 

The small, lightly-built blue robot advanced to the edge of the terminal and leaned one arm on the edge of the control panel. Robotnik did not even give him a glance. "So you've said time and again, Mecha." 

The robot hedgehog fixed his black and crimson eyes on the screens. "They are so stupid. Their body design is so ..." 

Robotnik flashed Mecha a dark look. 

"... extravagant." 

The robot knew he was treading on thin ice. The quickest way to land on Robotnik's blacklist was to insult his projects, particularly new ones. But Mecha was jealous of these mass-produced newcomers--they had the size, strength and weaponry he lacked--and so never missed a chance to point out their few shortcomings. 

"And they have PILOTS!" This last was the bitterest shot of them all. Mecha had no pilot animal in his hull to give him personality and reflexes. He deeply resented every other robot that did, particularly if it gave signs of outdoing him. 

"You're being a pain," Robotnik told him. "I've put too much effort into you to remodel you so quickly. Activate the Sonic doll machinery. Beta deactivated it with a chance shot." 

The blue robot strode away furiously, whining and grumbling to himself, "I wish they were using the REAL hedgehog for target practice. Why must _I_ contribute to the training of these primitive ..." he searched his databanks for a suitable term. "... adding machines! Oh, if only they would do something deserving of punishment so I might rend them limb from limb!" He wrenched the levers down and slapped the power button on the control console, then retreated sullenly to his quarters in the arena below. 

* * *

E-102 Gamma found himself in a simple series of rooms with targets that popped up on poles as he drew near. The 'targets', were red echidna-dolls and orange fox-dolls. He swept them with his tag laser. In his eyes, these tagged targets were now circled by orange 3D boxes. Automatically his left arm lifted, aimed and fired, hitting each with pre-programmed accuracy. The dolls disintegrated in puffs of sawdust. 

The course also taxed his maneuverability. He was forced to jump over boxes, duck through narrow openings and walk a narrow ledge over a deep pit. His confidence increased with each overcome obstacle. He was learning. 

Without warning a target dissolved to his right before he could tag it. This did not make sense. He stopped and looked about, trying to understand. 

Then from behind a large crate stepped another robot like himself. It was slightly bigger, bore rocket cannons on both arms, and was painted black with white trim. The two scanned each other. "E-101," Gamma noted. "Beta." His superior. He stood aside respectfully for Beta to pass. Beta did so, eyes fixed on this newcomer as he passed. Another of the E-series. "Welcome, E-102," Beta said in his flat monotone, then walked away to continue with the course. 

Gamma went on his way and found all the targets already blown up. He proceeded until he entered a vast room with a slider arm across one wall. Dangling from it was a blue hedgehog doll. Gamma tagged it and shot it, but it did not blow up. Instead the arm began to slowly move the doll along the wall. Gamma walked closer, tagged and shot the doll again, but with more difficulty. He shot it once more before it finally dropped from the arm and hit the floor with a thump. 

* * *

"Well done, Gamma," Robotnik said as the robot exited the training course. "You surprise me. Well, we'll see what you're really made of." He beckoned to his creation and led the way down the stairs into the arena in the center of the room. Gamma had a bit of trouble navigating the steps with his long feet--they were not meant for it--but he managed to reach the bottom still erect. 

"The Egg Carrier is a magnificent vessel that needs a good crew," Robotnik announced to Gamma; and someone else. Gamma looked about and saw E-101 Beta standing quietly in the corner, listening. "Therefore," the human said, dwarfed between the two tall robots, "I am pitting the two of your against each other. Personally, I am placing my bets on Beta, but I own Gamma at least a fair chance. Whoever loses their feet first loses the match." Then Robotnik flew up the stairs and leaned over the railing to watch. 

"Loses their feet? What does that mean?" Gamma wondered. Perhaps it meant shoot at Beta's feet. 

Beta had already stepped forward and swept Gamma with his tag laser. He knew that all he must do to win was knock his opponent over. He aimed and fired. 

Gamma was sweeping Beta's feet, trying to lock on target, when his laser struck the oncoming rocket. It locked and he fired instantly, thanks to the defensive reflexes of the creature in his hull. The missile exploded in mid-air. Gamma made note of that; rockets could be detonated before they reached their target. 

The robots circled like boxers in a ring, each trying for a lock. Gamma secured his first and fired. His weaker cannon fired a projectile too small to be targeted, although Beta tried to. It struck the black robot's left ankle and sent him sprawling. 

"I don't believe it!" Robotnik exclaimed from above. He descended the stairs as Beta climbed dejectedly to his feet. Robotnik ignored him and faced Gamma. "I didn't think you had what it takes! You have permission to come aboard the Egg Carrier." 

Beta thrust his way between Gamma and Robotnik like a dog pleading for attention. "What?" Robotnik questioned in surprise. "You want to come, too?" 

Beta sidestepped a little to block Gamma completely from view and nodded his whole body. He knew quite well what happened to robots Robotnik had no use for. 

"Oh, all right," said Robotnik, throwing up his hands. "I guess we could always use a spare set of parts. Mecha!" 

The blue robot appeared from his quarters in a sulky slouch. "Yes sir." 

"Take these two to the Egg Carrier," Robotnik said, checking his watch. "I have a train to meet in fifteen minutes." 

Mecha gave the E-series a withering look. "Of course, sir." 

"Oh, and Mecha," Robotnik said over his shoulder as he started up the stairs, "you may have Beta to remodel as you wish." 

Gamma knew little about the small blue robot before him, but he knew he didn't like the predatory way Mecha gazed at Beta.


	7. Enemies old and new

A hedgehog and a fox disembarked from the train and found themselves on a high wooden platform. To their right were a flight of wooden stairs leading to the ground below. Sonic sniffed as they trotted down the steps. The air was thick with humidity and the odor of green leaves and muddy water. At the foot of the train station there was a wide dirt area that sloped in a gentle hill to meet the high cliffs roundabout. Standing at the foot of the stairs was a human dressed in khaki shorts, boots and pith helmet. Strapped to his back was a fully-outfitted pack. He looked ready to charge off into the forest and explore, and yet stood where he was, looking downcast. 

"Hey man," Sonic said in greeting. "What's up?" 

The man looked at him, faintly startled at being addressed in such a way by a Mobian, than said, "I wanted to be part of the first expedition that went into the jungle. They're looking for the lost ruins. But I get lost easy, so they left me here." 

"Too bad," Sonic said, trying not to sound as disinterested as he felt. "Nice talkin' to ya. C'mon, Tails." 

As they walked off under the raised tracks, Sonic said softly, "He can't even carry a compass? What idiots humans must be!" 

"I feel sorry for him," Tails said with a small shrug. "He looks so friendless ..." He looked ahead and changed the subject. "The airstrip is up here." The fox led the way toward a flat-topped hill with stone steps built into its side. "See, the hanger and strip are off on that side," Tails explained as they trotted up the steps, "and over here is a big flat space for parking extra planes." 

As they stepped onto the flat, they were greeted by a rough voice chuckling, "Well well, if it isn't my old friends, Sonic and Tails!" 

The two whipped about to see a small round hovercraft with huge engines and side extensions rise into the air from below the cliffs. Leering at the two through the spotless windshield was a short, fat, bald human with a gigantic mustache. He had gained considerable weight since they had last seen him, and his belly gave him the odd shape of an egg (pointy end up) with arms. "Hey look," Sonic said scornfully. "It's a giant talking egg!" 

"Silence!" their enemy barked. 

"Like we take orders from you," Sonic sneered. "Whaddya want, ya big loser?" 

"I want any chaos emeralds you have," the human replied. "I have big plans for them." 

"Coming from you, those are the worst kind," Tails said, taking his friend's cue and acting scornful. He had already laid his energy converter and precious emerald safely out of sight back down the stairs. 

"Hand them over, or else," Robotnik warned, revving his craft's engines. 

"Or else what, Eggman?" Sonic challenged, stepped between his enemy and Tails. 

"Or else I'll take them from you the hard way!" Robotnik yelled, swooping forward. 

Sonic and Tails fled in opposite directions and spun to face Robotnik's attack. The doctor pulled up, circled out from the cliff's edge, then hovered for an ominous second. There came a series of flashes from the nose of the ship, then a whoosh as several missiles appeared and streaked for their targets. "Fly, Tails!" Sonic hollered as he dodged sideways and back. The rockets struck the ground with an explosion of earth and flame. Sonic ducked through the curtain of falling debris to make sure Tails was unhurt. Yes, the fox was hovering fifteen feet from the ground, making faces at Robotnik. "Way to go, little bro!" Sonic cheered, then gasped and yelped, "Duck!" 

The ship swooped in like a giant hornet, two spinning drills emerging from the side-wings. Tails squeaked and dropped like a stone, barely escaping one of the metal bits. The Egg Hornet swerved toward Sonic (who leaped backward), drills ripping into the ground. The hedgehog's blood was quite warm by this time, as was his temper at seeing Tails nearly dismembered. He leaped into the air, somer-saulting over and over, whirling spines becoming a dangerous weapon. He hurled himself into the exposed engine intake on the right wing's top panel, spines splitting wires and plugs before he bounced off at an angle. When he recovered his feet, he saw that the right wing was smoking and the drill bit no longer turning. "Try that again, Eggman!" he taunted as the Egg Hornet roared away into the air. 

"Yeah, chicken!" Tails added from across the arena, then flapped his arms and cackled like a hen. He had regained his nerve at seeing the Hornet's weakness. 

Robotnik, ego affected by their taunts, grimly took another dive at Sonic, moving so fast the hedgehog almost didn't sidestep soon enough. Sonic tore into the left wing with a fierce yell. Tails, seeing the end was near and not wanting to be left out, ducked in low and struck the rocket launcher with his tails by spinning in a circle like an ice skater. 

The Egg Hornet took to the air one last time, then slowed and shuddered. Robotnik pulled a lever in the cockpit, and all the outer equipment loosed and fell from their places with a metallic crash. Sonic and Tails looked on smugly as the round, defenseless hovercraft beneath sputtered and jolted against the ground, almost falling, but not quite. 

"He's defeated," Tails thought, already anticipating work on his biplanes. "He'll leave in a minute. I'll take the emerald and converter to the hanger now, while Sonic sees him off." The fox darted away down the steps, picked up the emerald in one hand and the converter in the other, then trotted up toward the hanger. 

"Tails, lookout!" Sonic yelled. Tails turned, startled, just in time to have the blue stone snatched from his hand by a mechanical clamp extended from Robotnik's ship. It retracted and places its prize in its master's hand. He laughed triumphantly and stood in his seat, waving the emerald aloft. "Aha! The first of the emeralds!" 

"Give that back!" Tails cried furiously, moving as if to attack, but Sonic grabbed his arm and held him still. 

"A wise move," Robotnik chuckled. "You shall see the crux of my plans. Chaos, come forth!" 

"Chaos?" Sonic exclaimed, remembering the name from the previous evening. 

A large wet patch appeared in the soil near Robotnik's craft. This grew wetter and wetter until a large, deep puddle had seeped out of the ground, then rose, moulded itself and congealed into a humanoid figure with featureless green eyes. "That's the monster I saw last night!" Sonic said in surprise. 

"M--monster?" Tails stammered, staring at the thing and shrinking behind his hero. 

Robotnik threw the blue gem at the beast. It turned and caught it with one hand. There was a brilliant flash and glow from that arm. When it faded, Chaos' left arm had grown and thickened, a heavy cartilaginous skeleton within the arm and fingers. Embedded in the cartilage in the back of his wrist was the blue emerald. 

"Yes!" Robotnik said in delight, feasting his eyes on Chaos 1. "It's just as the stone tablets predicted! Chaos' strength increases every time I feed him a chaos emerald! When his strength is perfected, he will be invincible ... and work for ME! With his power I will destroy Sapphire City and construct Robotropolis the second ... and he will take care of all resistance efforts for me." This last was aimed with a nasty grin at Sonic. 

Sonic stepped forward, intending to attack this fragile water creature and show "Eggman" that it wasn't so powerful, but Robotnik said, "Come, Chaos, lets find some more emeralds!" He threw something at the ground, which exploded in thick white smoke. When it cleared five minutes later, Robotnik and the monster were gone.


	8. Exploration

Knuckles stood in the bright sun on the roof of the train depot in Station Square. His hunt for emerald shards had brought him this far. Unfortunately, the signal he was receiving was so faint he couldn't locate the source; it must be very low. 

With a sigh he glided off the roof, circled and dropped to the pavement in the square. What a job. Now the sound was even fainter. Maybe inside the station? 

The echidna trotted up the steps, pushed open the door and strode in. There were only a few humans about, and the train tracks were empty. Good--he liked it better empty. 

He cocked his head and listened for a long moment. Little change. The fragment could be anywhere, and of any size. 

"Hello there." 

Knuckles turned, startled. Behind him stood a human in a clerk's uniform. One hand was in his pocked, and the other held a Pepsi. "Lookin' to catch a train?" 

"Er, no," Knuckles replied edgily. He was ill at ease among humans. "I was just ... looking around." 

"Tourist, eh?" the clerk remarked good-naturedly. "We don't get many Mobians through here. It's a shame, really. I grew up with Mobians and like 'em better'n most humans 'round here." 

"Wow," Knuckles replied. "Can I ask you a question?" 

"Ask away. It's my job to help people." 

"Well ..." the echidna drew a nervous breath. "Have you seen any green things--like glass--laying around?" 

The clerk thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Can't say that I have. You break something?" 

"Sort of," Knuckles replied, dropping his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to let the world know the Master emerald was broken. 

The clerk seemed to sense the echidna's discomfort, for he stopped asking questions. "Why don't you come over to the gift shop sometime?" he asked. "I've got a list of free tour brochures you could use." He took a drink of his soda. "Well, I'd better be getting back to work. Nice talking to you." 

Knuckles watched him suspiciously as the human walked back to the gift shop in the corner. Why was he so friendly? What was his motive? Surely he couldn't be kind for kindness's sake ... 

After a few minutes the crimson echidna wandered into the giftshop, one ear tuned to the emerald hum. No change. Discouraged and stumped, he drifted about, looking idly at the displays and racks of items without really seeing them. He found a brochure, flipped through it, put it back, took it out again and glanced into the glass display case under the counter. 

His eyes locked on a pair of shiny trinkets near the end. After a second of staring, he moved closer. They weren't trinkets; they were steel knuckles. A loop of steel was welded to long, broad double claws, thick and sharply-bladed. Shovel-claws for Mobians, the tag read. $150. 

Knuckles had seventy dollars worth of cash with him (he had the sense to leave home reasonable financed), but where in the world he could get another eighty? The longer he looked at the claws the worse he wanted them. Not that his natural claws didn't work quite well, but ... 

It wasn't until he was standing outside in the square that he looked at the brochure again. The word 'Casino' leaped out at him. A casino, one black from where he stood. Dangerous dangerous, that's what casinos were. Good thing it didn't open until that evening; he would have time to talk himself out of the shovel-claws. He didn't really need them, anyway, he told himself. 

* * *

Tails sat on the doorstep of the hanger, ears drooping, head in his hands. The converter lay beside him where he had dropped it. His chaos emerald had been stolen. He couldn't work on the biplanes. He was on the verge of tears. 

After a while there came the patter of sneakers on the stone stairway below, and a blue hedgehog came jogging up. "This place is cool!" Sonic exclaimed, seating himself beside his sidekick and pretending to ignore Tails's brimming eyes. "There's a bunch of explorer-dudes down there. They sent a whole 'nother party out into the woods, but they haven't come back yet. These guys are really worried about 'em. Then they kept pointing to this mountain down the coast and saying it hadn't been there a few days ago. I figured they're nuts--I mean, mountains don't just up and walk around. Oh, and there's this one cave that's so windy it almost lifts you off your feet. A big tunnel goes straight up. No telling where it goes." 

Sonic paused for breath and glanced at Tails to see if his chatter had helped any. Not much. He sighed and put an arm around the young fox's shoulders. "Ah Tails ... we'll find another emerald." 

Tails broke down completely and sobbed into Sonic's shoulder. "No we won't! There's no way we'll ever find another one! Now my planes won't work, and all because Robotnik has that monster!" 

Sonic held him and patted him comfortingly on the back until the sobs subsided to sniffles. "Lighten up, kiddo," he said gently as Tails dried his eyes and wiped his nose. "Look, this area is supposed to radiate a weird energy, like all the emeralds are here somewhere. One of the explorers showed me. It makes compasses wacky and does weird things to Geiger counters. That's why ol Eggman's here instead of off harassing the Freedom Fighters. He knows they're here." 

Tails looked up at his friend, glassy-eyed, but trying bravely to smile. "I guess," he sniffed, "I guess we can try to beat Eggman to them, huh?" 

"That's the spirit!" Sonic exclaimed, rising to his feet. "C'mon, I want to look at the windy cave again." 

The cave was tall and dark, with a terrific inflow of air roaring up the shaft, like a natural vacuum cleaner. Sonic and Tails stood under the shaft, spines and tails whipping about in the wind. "Look at this!" Sonic shouted above the noise. He pointed. Tails saw a small stone platform in one corner with a stone post standing erect beside it. The two walked closer. Indented in the platform was a square hole, as if something were meant to fit in it. Engraved on the post was a funny-looking spiral, like the symbol of a hurricane. "Weird!" Tails hollered. "Let's go outside!" 

As they emerged panting from the chamber, they were met by one of the khaki-clad humans. "Oh, hello," he said in surprise as they walked by. "What were you doing in there?" 

"I was showing Tails here the windy cave," Sonic said obviously, jerking a thumb in the fox's direction. "What are you doing?" 

"Oh," said the man, looking down, "I uh, found an artifact ..." He reached into the bag hanging from his belt and pulled out an object resembling a trophy. It had a square stone base, and instead of a statue, it had an oval-shaped glass dome on it. The glass was green, and inside it was a flat, paper-like cutout of the same hurricane symbol they had seen in the cave. 

"Hey," Sonic said, staring, "doesn't that go to that thing in there?" 

"Well," the human replied, "I think so, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I put it in." 

The hedgehog nearly knocked him down in his haste to take the wind stone and tear into the cave. "Sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder. Tails, embarrassed, said, "He gets really enthusiastic sometimes. Sorry about that. We'll tell you what happens when we come back." 

"Oh," replied the startled human. "Okay, thanks." 

Tails entered the cave, intending to reprimand his friend for his rude behavior, but never got the chance. Sonic had just slipped the wind stone into its socket. Instantly the wind strengthened, ripping at their fur, dragging them toward the black shaft. Tails felt his feet leave the ground, gasped a ragged lungful of the speeding air about him, then was sucked into the mountain like a leaf.


	9. Tornado

The Egg Carrier was docked in the bottom of a large valley deep in the jungle. The trees roundabout all but hid it from view, which was how Robotnik had planned it. The Final Egg ground base (also well hidden, all above-ground structures carefully closed up), was only a short walk from the landing pad. 

A short blue robot led two tall, gangly machines toward the monstrous craft. E-102 Gamma swept the side with his visual sensors. It was so big his computer could not grasp what he was seeing. All he could tell was that it was painted a dark red. A good distance further off, through a stand of trees, Gamma saw what he thought was a copy of the Egg Carrier, parked in the same airfield, but undeployed and resting under a vast tarpaulin. 

The ground was rough with roots, rocks and tall brush. Metal Sonic moved along quite easily, but Beta and Gamma slipped, stumbled or snagged on twigs. Once Gamma tipped completely over and clanked into Beta's side. Surprisingly, Beta stopped and pushed him erect. Another odd instinct of the creature within the robotic hull. Twice more during their trek Beta steadied Gamma. Mecha plodded on ahead of them, oblivious to their troubles. 

At last they were clanking up the gangplank and into the cool, dim interior of the Egg Carrier's belly. Gamma looked about. They had entered a giant cargo hold, with crates and cannisters piled in rows as far as he could see. Directly ahead of them, across the paneled floor, was a steel staircase leading to a door near the ceiling. There was a mechanical hum of unseen fans. 

Metal Sonic stopped and turned to face the two, his red eyes glowing like candles in the gloom. "102," he commanded, "go up to the subdeck and report to 103. He will show you to your tasks. 101," he said to Beta, voice dropping to a hungry purr, "you will come with me to the upper construction bay." He turned and walked away. As Beta moved to follow him, he shot one last look at Gamma, as if to say, "Goodbye, I am going to my doom." Gamma watched until they were out of sight among the cargo. He would never again see Beta in that shape. 

The stairs were many and steep, but built for robots. Gamma managed them easily. He opened the door at the top and stepped through. Inside was yet another cargo hold, but smaller and with a higher ceiling the sun peeped through. Parked in neat rows were hundred of fighter-jets painted like sharks, green and white, fierce looking. Another E-series robot was standing off to the left, supervising a troop of droids working on a fighter. 

Gamma approached. The other robot heard him and turned about. E-103. He was blue and white, and carried two blaster rifles instead of hands, but otherwise differed little in build from Gamma. "Greetings, 102," the blue robot said in his flat monotone. "I am 103, codenamed Delta." 

"I am Gamma," the red robot replied. 

"Gamma, then," Delta replied with a wave of a gun barrel. "Is Dr. Robotnik on board?" 

"No. Metal Sonic brought self-unit and E-101 Beta here." 

"Mecha-bot two," Delta said in a genuine tone of disgust. "His programming is faulty." It was the first time Gamma had heard anyone say anything against Mecha, and it would not be the last. The E-series cordially hated the blue robot as much as he hated them. 

Delta turned back to the droids. "You may proceed about your duties, Gamma." 

That did not compute. After a moment of blank incomprehension, Gamma said, "Self-unit has no duties. Please assign." 

Delta swivelled his head about to look at Gamma. "Master did not connect you to the Egg Carrier mainframe? This must be remedied. Proceed to construction bay 4 and summon E-104 Epsilon. He will install the necessary hardware." 

"Affirmative." 

Thus the E-series welcomed their brother, last of all to board but certainly not least. And even as Gamma had programmed himself to respect Beta and wonder what Mecha would do to him, he programmed himself to like Delta. Delta had already done so and proceeded to take Gamma under his wing. It was important for Gamma to be fully trained by the time Master returned, or he would not last long. 

* * *

The wind tunnel shot up at a steep angle, a roaring chimney if black rock. Sonic doubled into a spiked ball for protection, arms over his face. He struck the wall several times, bruising his head and knees, gasping for a meagre amount of air. He had no time to worry about Tails--or anything, for that matter. There was nothing but darkness, tumbling, wind like a wall, and being constantly beaten constantly by blowing particles. 

Suddenly there was light; Sonic sensed it through his eyelids. Something struck him sharply on the right knee, and the wind abated and he hit the ground with a thump. He opened his eyes and saw a thick carpet of grass under his nose. Shaken, he slowly uncurled his bunched muscles and lifted his head. He was lying on a grassy ledge on the edge of a deep canyon. The wind was still blowing, but much softer than in the tunnel. Carefully he climbed to his feet--gee, his knee hurt! What had he hit? He could barely stand on his right leg--an ugly bruise was already forming under his fur. 

"Tails!" he exclaimed suddenly. He was alone on the ledge; where was his sidekick? Surely he had to have come out of the tunnel--Sonic spun about to see the mouth of the monstrous tunnel, twenty feet across. Just inside it was a giant fan, pulling the air up through the tunnel, blades a blur. Sonic stared at it in horror. He must had caught his knee on it as he came through. But Tails-- 

At that instant an orange body shot out of the fan and slammed squarely into Sonic, throwing him to the grass. Tails groaned, "Ooh, I feel like I'm gonna barf!" He lifted his head and saw what he had landed on. "Oh, hi Sonic." He slid off and sat holding his side. 

Sonic sat up and grinned. "Some fun, huh?" 

Tails hung out his tongue in disgust and discomfort. "Not MY idea of a good trip. Did that hurt you as much as it hurt me?" 

Sonic shook his head. "Naw, not much. I hit the fan." He pointed, and the fox looked. Tails' mouth dropped open. "Now I really WILL throw up." 

Sonic showed him his knee and received the appropriate sympathy. "Serves you right for putting in that stone!" 

The two looked about and discovered a narrow path leading gown from their ledge, along the jagged cliff face. Limping, the two set off to explore. 

A sign was discovered, bearing the words "Windy Valley". "Original," Sonic commented, running a hand through his spines. He then discovered that his spines were practically standing on end from the wind, and spent a few minutes combing them down with his fingers. 

As they hiked along the grassy trail, they saw that the valley was practically a wind-power center. There were windmills with helicopter-like rotors everywhere; built out over the narrow places in the canyon, extended from the walls, floating on hover-devices, all with blades turning in the wind. Only a few were turned vertically in the usual windmill fashion. 

Sonic and Tails hiked along, marvelling and pointing out various items of interest to each other. The air was clear, the sun warm, colors brilliant, the wind fresh and wild like a living thing. It teased their hair and met them with surprise gusts as they rounded corners. It tossed leaves and dandelion fluff about like confetti, then went in to chase the windmill blades around and around. 

After a bit the two came to a wide gap in the trail, as if a landslide had torn it away years ago. There had once been a wooden bridge extended across the gap, but it was broken and dangling at both ends, swaying in the wind. 

"Gosh, wonder what did that," Sonic said, kicking at the support posts. The ropes were not old enough to have worn through. 

"Maybe a rock fell on it," Tails suggested, looking up the cliff wall as if another might come bounding down at any moment. 

"Could be," Sonic shrugged. "It probably happens all the time during storms. Fly me across." 

"What do you say?" 

"'Do it or else'?" 

"Try it again, Eggman." 

"Please?" 

"Better." The fox spun his tails and rose into the air like a little helicopter. Sonic locked wrists with him, and Tails lifted him off his feet, carried him lightly across the gap, and set him down on the far side. Tails landed, himself, and the two walked on. 

The canyon began to widen, the far wall veering away at an angle. The valley floor was hidden in low-lying clouds--no telling ho far below it was. The wind remained steady, just strong enough for them to lean into. 

After a bit they began to see more and more gaps in the trail. "Does the wind get really strong here?" Sonic questioned as Tails airlifted him across a gap for the fourth time. 

"Who knows," Tails replied. "It's starting to creep me out. I want to go back to Mystic Ruins." 

A cloud dimmed the sun for a moment. The pair looked up and saw a vast, dark cloudbank billowing across the sky. "Uh-oh," Sonic remarked. "Looks like we're in for a storm." 

That was the understatement of the year. 

Within twenty minutes the entire sky was dark, and--even more ominously--the wind dropped. Sonic and Tails stood and gazed first at the sky, then at the valley. All the windmills had ceased turning. All colors had faded to dark greys and browns. Everything seemed to be holding its breath, waiting. 

"Let's get out of here," Sonic said, voice loud in the stillness. 

"Can we get back through the fan?" Tails asked worriedly. 

The hedgehog shook his head. "I doubt it, but there's got to be another exit somewhere. Somebody maintains these fans." 

They set off at a fast trot down the path, almost cowering beneath the threatening clouds. 

Windy Valley was a micro-climate. Warm air from the ocean collided with cool air from the nearby mountains, and the canyon acted as a giant vacuum that sucked the volatile mixture right over it. The valley was known for its violent storms that built out of nothing and ripped through without warning. 

The air was rapidly becoming humid and oppressive, and the two began to sweat and pant. "Sonic," Tails said between breaths, "you're green." 

"So are you," Sonic replied. "Look, everything's green!" 

The light had become a grass-green. washing everything in its sickly color. They paused for a moment and gazed about. Neither had ever seen a storm that turned everything green before. "What's up?" Sonic breathed, looking first at the motionless windmills above them, then at the sky. 

Lightning flickered in the distance, then ripped across the sky above, crooked fingers of white that flashed, spread out and vanished a full second after they appeared. It was followed by a rolling growl of thunder that shook the earth beneath their feet. "We're sitting ducks up here," Sonic said, his hand closing on Tails'. 

They began to jog through the weird green twilight, eyes scanning the cliff face for some hollow or crack they could use as shelter, but there were none. 

Tails halted, pulling Sonic to a stop with him. "Listen," he whispered, ears pricked. 

Sonic cocked his head, but could hear nothing. "What?" 

"That!" Tails exclaimed. "It sounds like a train. Can't you hear it?" 

Sonic listened again. Yes, now he could hear a distant roar. "What IS that?" he muttered. They could not see far ahead, as the cliff wall bulged out and blocked their view. "Stay here a second," Sonic said. "I'm gonna take a look around the bend." 

"Be careful!" Tails implored. That sound frightened him without his knowing why. 

Sonic advanced to the bend and peered around it. At once he started violently, the spines on his back leaping erect. He whirled and ran back to Tails, grabbed his hand and fled up the trail. "It's a tornado!" he cried. 

The roar grew louder and the funnel came into sight, a whirling pillar of destruction. It was probably forty feet across. It moved through the canyon parallel to the walls, sucking earth from the ground far below and ripping loose objects from the cliffs; bridges, rocks, chunks of trail, windmills, anything. 

Sonic and Tails fled along ahead of it, trying to outrun it. On a straight stretch they might have made it, but the path curved and twisted along the cliff, and the highest speed Sonic achieved at a stretch was thirty miles an hour. The tornado was moving considerably faster than that. 

Tails looked over his shoulder, squinting against the flying dust in the air. He saw the funnel not a stone's throw away, debris and dust whirling in its outer wall, the inner wall a transparent, delicate tube of water vapor. The suction tore at his face and body--the wind, no longer playful, had become a visible monster intent on swallowing them up. Tails clung to Sonic's hand as his feet were lifted off the ground, pulled toward the tornado. As long as he didn't let go-- 

But not even Sonic could fight the strength of the storm. "Don't let go! Don't let go!" the hedgehog cried hysterically as his feet left the path. Then they were whipped aloft and sucked into the twister, along with most of the trail they had been standing on. 

Gravity did not exist. They were whipped around and around the funnel, ascending ever higher in the storm-darkness. The hideous roar of the twister was all about them, mingled with a thousand other sounds that did not belong to wind at all; the sound of voices talking or screaming, as the tornado used the debris in its funnel to create a symphony of discord. 

Sonic slammed into something solid and clung to it. He pried his eyes open. It was an enormous section of cliff, suspended in the storm. Tails was nearby, clinging to the base of a windmill with one propeller, which was spinning crazily. Somehow they were both unhurt. They stared at each other helplessly, unable to lift a finger without flying off to their doom in the twister. Already they were doomed, for where would it drop them? 

Sonic tilted his head back and looked up. Far, far up the center of the tornado was a speck of light. The walls of the tornado swirled around it, one nearby turning slowly, almost lazily, and the one beyond it whipping by at high speed. They were nearly in the center of the tornado. 

The hedgehog's eyes dropped to the windmill again. It would probably fly wonderfully if torn loose from its moorings. Carefully he pried loose one hand-- 

\--And was ripped free from his hold and smashed into the windmill's base. He clung to it mechanically as his senses righted themselves, the wind attempting to scour the spines from his body. Tails was a few feet away, eyes closed against the wind. Sonic drew a breath of powdered sand and rocked his weight against the windmill's base. It didn't budge. Tails was looking at him now. Sonic motioned upward with his head. Tails looked up at the top of the tornado, then at the windmill. Immediately he shifted his hold, inching up toward the one blade. He managed to hook one knee through the framework and looked at Sonic again. 

Afterward they decided that a flying chunk of rock must have struck the base of the windmill. Neither saw it happen, but suddenly the windmill was free and flying about the tornado. 

Both had little memory of what happened next. Perhaps they were stunned by the force of the blow. At any rate, the next time Sonic opened his eyes, they were flying out of the top of a cloud, blinded by the sun. Tails was still wedged in the framework of the windmill. The one propeller was still spinning, but was winding down. One blade did not provide enough lift to support them without the fury of the tornado; they slowed, tilted and began to drop. They were falling back into the storm! 

"Bail out!" Sonic croaked, and let go without further thought. 

Tails caught him by one leg as he began to fall. Sonic looked up to see the young fox's tails spinning, holding them aloft. "Going somewhere?" Tails asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.


	10. Casinopolis

The flight back took an hour. The two were shell-shocked and exhausted, and didn't speak much. Tails simply parachuted them down until the familiar airstrip and train station appeared below them. "Let's go to the hanger," the fox suggested. "We can rest there." 

So they did. The two slept the rest of the afternoon in the warm, safe hanger as their bodies recovered. 

Sonic awoke late that afternoon, thirsty and sore all over. He sat up and looked about. He had slept on a pile of taps in the corner, and Tails had taken the cot. But the cot was empty, and Tails was tinkering with a tired-looking red and white bi-plane across the room. Sonic stretched and yawned. Tails's head appeared between the wings. "Hi there, sleeping beauty! It's about time you woke up." 

Sonic climbed to his feet. "I'm parched." 

"There's a water dispenser over there," Tails said, pointing. 

Sonic limped up to it (his knee was stiff and aching), took a paper cup from the rack near it and drank like a camel, refilling the cup over and over. "There," he said, wiping his mouth and dropping the cup into a trashcan, "I feel like facing the world again! What say we go back to Sapphire City? We could eat and stay in the hotel tonight." 

"Sure," Tails replied from behind the plane. "See if you can get some tickets for the evening train. I'll finish up here in a second." 

"Okay." 

Sonic left the hanger and trotted down the stone steps to the area where they had battled Robotnik, limping a little on his knee. The gear from the Egg Hornet was still scattered about, and parked nearby was the unpainted bi-plane Tails had crashed. It had been towed back while they had been in Windy Valley. 

The hedgehog paused as he entered the flat. He was closer, at this point, to the windy cave than the station. What had happened to the cave? Was the fan still on? He trotted toward the cave. 

The wind inside it, while blowing a bit, was obviously not pulled along by the fan. There were two reasons for this, he found. One was that the stone 'trophy' had been taken from the stone platform, which had turned off the fan. The other was shown by the debris and fan blades scattered about under the shaft. The tornado must have reached the fan high above and destroyed it. 

The hedgehog kicked at the wooden blades in slight contempt. What was the fan for, anyway? To suck up hapless victims? His scuffing feet turned over a blade that had part of the center joint attached to it, and something red glinted in the darkness. What in the world ...? He knelt and turned the joint over. To his surprise, embedded in the wood was the red chaos emerald. He touched it cautiously--the red emerald had been known to become flamingly hot without the presence of the other emeralds. But the gem's smooth surface was cool to the touch. Did it power the fan? Wow, no wonder it was so strong! Tails would be so happy--now he could work on his bi-plane. Maybe their trip to the Windy Valley had not been for nothing after all. 

Sonic pried the emerald free and carried it to the safety of the hanger, then headed for the train station. 

Tails was already there, waiting for him on the platform. He suggested that they eat dinner in Station Square before going anywhere else, as he was starving. Sonic agreed, bought two round-trip tickets, and settled back to wait for the five o' clock train. 

* * *

As the orange sun sank into the ocean, a crimson echidna sat in the Station Square diner, munching fruit salad and watching the door of the Casino, just a few doors down the street. It opened at five-thirty. 

Knuckles had failed to talk himself out of the shovel claws, and was intent on winning enough cash to buy them. He also had another motive for going into the Casino--he had discovered that the emerald sound was coming from inside. 

As he gazed out the window at the busy rush-hour traffic, a small figure caught his eye. A Mobian. He looked closer--was a relief to see a Mobian in the sea of humans. It was a girl hedgehog with pink fur and a red dress. He spines were very soft-looking and hung about her face like human hair. She was running along the sidewalk as if in a hurry to get somewhere, ducking through the crowd. Knuckles watched her idly. She ran to the hotel doors on his far left and disappeared inside. He shrugged and returned to his meal. It had been a good while since he had seen a hedgehog. He thought of Sonic with a twinge of regret. They had been estranged through a misunderstanding a couple months back, and Knuckles missed him in a quiet sort of way. Too bad Sonic wasn't here. He'd think Sapphire City was fun. 

* * *

Sonic and Tails arrived in Station Square at quarter 'til six, famished. Sonic was all for heading to the Casino and eating there, but Tails changed his mind by pointing out how expensive food would be. So they ate in the hotel dining room (Tails reserved a room for himself, next door to Sonic's), receiving a discount for being guests. Then, full and rested, they headed for the Casino. 

The first thing to strike them as they walked in were the lights. There were lights everywhere; along the walls, bordering the carpet, all over the slot machines and car tables. The main room was circular with a high ceiling. Steps led down to a center dais with a statue that reached almost to the ceiling. The carpet was a rich red with gold borders. Spread evenly around the room were the vast entertainment displays. To their left was a huge elaborate fountain built into the wall, then rows and rows of slot machines. To their right was a vault for storing cash winnings, with slot machines beyond it. On the other sides of the slot machines were odd-looking booths that Sonic and Tails couldn't see much of. Their view of the opposite wall was blocked by the statue's base. It was a gorgeous place that breathed of money. 

The two began to walk along the path, footsteps muffled by the lush carpeting, ears full of the babble of voices and music, eyes full of the colors and sparkling lights. It was difficult to take in all at once. 

After a bit they came to a booth built into the wall. Signs around it proclaimed it to be '3-D Card and Pinball'. "Hey, this looks like fun," Sonic said. He had always had a weakness for pinball. He would have stepped into the booth, but Tails tugged at his arm. "Let's see what else there is, then come back." 

"Okay." Sonic stepped back to read the advertisement on the wall, and tripped over something on the floor. "What the heck?" he muttered, climbing to his feet. It was what looked like a giant metal arrow with a rope tied to a loop at one end. 

Tails identified it. "It's an anchor." 

They followed the rope upward with their eyes, then gasped in wonder. 

The anchor was attached to a full-sized clipper ship with all the rigging, suspended thirty feet above their heads. A bit of moving about bright the pirate flag into view. There was also another ship, higher up. There was an entire second floor up there. "Oh man," Sonic exclaimed. "Oh man!" 

They stood and stared at the ceiling until a human boy walked up to them, looked at them closely, then walked away, shaking his head. Sonic realized how odd they looked and elbowed Tails. "C'mon," he murmured, "they think we're nuts." 

"Oh," said Tails said faintly, tearing his eyes away. "I guess we do look kind of silly, huh?" 

But as soon as they walked away, a figure leaped from its perch on the statue's head and glided, arms outstretched, to the deck of the pirate ship. His red fur and white crescent was plainly visible from below. 

Knuckles had not seen Sonic and Tails. He was exploring the Casino in his own way, climbing walls, dodging anamatrons, watching humans play at the gambling tables. He had already had a turn at the slot machines and earned ten cents. It wasn't much, but he had felt the lure of gambling creeping up on him, so he had left the games to look about a bit. 

He could not pinpoint the emerald shard's location. It was in the building somewhere, he was sure of it--but where was a mystery. He had already checked all the trash bins and cigarette trays, with no luck. Now, as he climbed to a precarious perch in the rigging of the ship, he gazed down at the crowded lobby with dismay. There were so many people, so many places a little fragment could hide! It rather stifled him. At least he was alone up on this display. 

"Hey you!" a harsh voice snapped. 

Knuckles looked about and saw a man in a dark green uniform standing on the deck below. 

"You aren't supposed to be up there! Get down or out you go!" 

The echidna glided neatly to the wide balcony of the second floor and landed. The human climbed down after him. "Act up any more and you'll find yourself facing the Boss," the security guard growled. "Stay off the displays!" 

"All right already!" Knuckles snapped. "I get the picture. I'll stay off." 

It wasn't until the guard walked away, however, that the echidna noticed the Keep Off signs posted everywhere. 

Oops. 

* * *

Sonic and Tails followed a short hall off the lobby and found themselves in a lower room, filled with just as many lights, but considerably more noise. It didn't take long to figure out that this was the kids' casino, where the parents dropped them off. Everywhere were kids, playing with the numerous displays and roaring arcade games, all talking at the top of their lungs. 

"Hey Tails," Sonic shouted above the bedlam, "you could stay here while I go earn some cash." 

"Okay," Tails hollered back, "I'll come find you in a couple hours." 

Thus the two parted temporarily. 

Tails walked up to the counter where all the prizes were kept, to buy some tokens. He knew how these things worked; every time he won a game it spat out tickets. You used the tickets to buy the prizes. The more games the more tickets, and the more tickets the better a prize you could buy. As the clerk counted out twenty tokens, the fox's sharp eyes roamed the prizes, searching for one he would like. There were many flashy, albeit cheap, toys under the counter. He looked at the back wall. There were bikes, skis, and other sports equipment. As he took his tokens, a glint caught his eyes. He looked harder, then gasped--mounted on a shelf was the white chaos emerald! His eyes flashed to the price--3000 tickets. They must have known what it was or it wouldn't be there. Tails made for the skeeball course at a run. 

* * *

The evening passed in a whirl of colors and lights. Sonic immersed himself in the slot machine/card/pinball games. Luck was with him that night, for he earned more cash than he spent. It was addictive. Even after he had earned enough to buy his shoes and Tails' jet anklets, he kept going, telling himself that he would stop after the next round, and the next ... 

Knuckles' luck was not as good as Sonic's. He lost thirty-five of his seventy dollars at the roulette table. Embarrassed and discouraged, he stalked up to a slot machine and kicked it. To his surprise, out of the slot poured coins in handfuls, bucketfuls. 

As it turned out, two hundred dollar's worth had been bestowed upon him. He placed it in the vault proudly, secretly glad he wouldn't have to gamble any more. It made him uncomfortable, somehow. 

Tails played games like a maniac. He soon found which machines gave the most tickets, how many points gave how many tickets, etc. He wore tickets draped around his neck, carried wads in his palms, leaving two fingers free to manipulate game controls, everywhere he could possibly carry some. 

Finally his watch beeped. 8:00. Time to take a break and find Sonic. First the young fox sat down and counted tickets. He had so many this took half an hour, counting by twos as fast as he could, but finally found that he had 3048 tickets. Not bad! 

Tails swung by the counter as casually as a walking ticket display could and heaped them on it. "I have three thousand forty-eight tickets," he told the girl behind the counter. 

"Wow," she said, eyeing the pile, "you worked hard tonight!" She took the tickets and put them in a basket on a scale. The screen blinked and read, '3045'. Close enough. "What would you like?" she asked. 

Trying to sound casual and bored, Tails pointed to the chaos emerald. "That big white diamond." 

She raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged and took the emerald from its shelf, put it in a bag and gave it to him. Tails took it, fingers clumsy with excitement. He did it! He had won an emerald! He turned to leave, and as an afterthought turned back. "Can I have a soda?" He paid for it and departed, sucking at the straw thirstily. Now to have Sonic. 

The hedgehog was immersed in a 3-D pinball game when Tails finally found him. "Sonic!" he said in greeting. 

Sonic cocked an ear but didn't turn. He was wearing the headpiece strapped across his eyes and both hands gripped the flipper controls. "Hiya little bro. What's up?" 

"Fine! I won the white emerald!" 

Sonic's head turned toward Tails that time in surprise, and he lifted the headpiece from one eye. "You're kidding." 

"Nope! Spent all night doing it! How have you done?" 

Sonic replaced the headpiece. "Got seven hundred in the vault," he replied, jerking the paddle controls, "and another hundred scattered among the card tables." 

"Cool! Is that enough?" 

"Think so. You ready to go?" 

"Yeah. I'm bushed, and the noise is getting on my nerves." 

"Okay, just a minute." 

* * *

As Sonic claimed his money, Knuckles climbed up on the base of the brass statue in the middle of the room. Now that he had enough cash to buy the shovel claws, he was after the emerald fragment. He cocked his head as he stood on the base. It was definitely louder here. He examined the top of the base, turned up nothing, and began to look at the statue itself. There was a large crack in one of its feet, and--was it just the light, or was something glowing inside? 

* * *

Sonic and Tails were just stepping out the doors into the warm, quiet night, when from behind them came a colossal cracking sound. The two whirled and looked through the glass doors to see the brass statue crack, crumble and fall into a huge pile of rubble 

on the high base. 

* * *

Silence descended on the casino as every eye focused on the wreckage. Knuckles stood in the midst of the rubble, visible to everyone. He hadn't known it would break when he tried to widen the crack a bit. Now he stood, hotly embarrassed, face cherry red, wishing he could melt through the floor. 

Security guards converged on the scene. 

* * *

"Hey, isn't that Knuckles?" Sonic asked, squinting. "I think it is!" 

Tails stood beside him, trying to see, the emerald forgotten in one hand. 

There was a sudden whirr and a hot rush of exhaust, and the two were knocked off the pavement into the street. The gem went flying from Tails' hand. The two righted themselves in bewilderment, and found themselves facing Robotnik, sitting smugly in his little hovercraft. 

Tails realized his hands were empty and spied the white emerald lying on the pavement a few yards away. "The chaos emerald!" the exclaimed, diving for it. Sonic followed him, afraid Robotnik would see the emerald. 

But alas, they were too late. The hovercraft zipped between Sonic, Tails and the emerald. The two nearly smacked into the metal hull. As they caught themselves, Robotnik roared, "Oh no you don't!" A purple gas sprayed from the vents in the front of the hovercraft, giving the hedgehog and fox a lungful. At the same time, a tiny beam appeared from the belly of the craft and sucked up the emerald. 

"I feel funny," Tails murmured, reeling to the curb and sitting down. Sonic remained standing, watching Robotnik defiantly through dimming eyes. "Eggman," he groaned, then toppled slowly to the ground. In a moment, Sonic and Tails were both snoring heavily. 

"Fools," Robotnik laughed at them. "Fortunately for you it was merely sleeping gas and not one of my compounds! I have a date in the hotel ... sleep well!"


	11. Knuckles and Tikal

Knuckles was clapped in handcuffs and dragged by burly guards through a small side door, down a surprisingly dingy hall and into a spacious, luxurious office with a roulette table in the corner. 

A human dressed in a black suit and tie was seated at the desk, reading a paper which he laid face-down as they entered. He stood. He was tall, had shiny black hair, black eyes and a hooked nose. His features could have been chiseled out of stone for all the emotion they displayed. Knuckles felt himself shrink under the glare of the glittering eyes. 

One of the guards barked out Knuckles' crime. The man listened, motionless and expressionless, gazing always at the echidna. "What should we do with him, boss?" the guard finished. 

Knuckles half expected the Boss to suggest something like a long walk off a short pier. Instead, the man deliberately reseated himself, waved a hand and drawled, "Throw him in the trash." 

The garbage chute was long, dark and slippery. After a fast slide and a short drop, Knuckles found himself on a heap of trash; rotten food, greasy paper, empty cups, old beer cans and other nasty things. The smell was remarkable in it's potency. 

Knuckles slid off the heap and looked about. He stood in a vast circular room full of garbage, chutes entering it every few feet. On the far wall was a large closed door, probably where trucks hauled away the rubbish. Here and there were a few weak light bulbs, and around them clustered every species of fly and gnat ever invented. There seemed to be no way out. 

"That guy was a crime lord if I ever saw one," Knuckles said into the thick air. "I wonder if I'm supposed to die down here." He had too much fight in him for that--he would dig out through a wall. 

Suddenly it dawned on him--the emerald sound was very loud down here. Of course--it was in the trash like everything else! The statue must be directly overhead. Almost laughing, he moved toward the sound, kicked aside a thin layer of trash and picked up a green chunk as big as his fist. 

As his fingers curled around it, a small pink ball of light appeared out of nowhere and flew right into his face. Thinking it was a firefly of some kind, he swatted at it. Then the light dazzled him, and he shielded his eyes. 

Just like that he was no longer in the casino. He was standing on a high green wall under a blue, cloudless sky. Blinking and bewildered, he stared about him. Before him, towering into the sky, was a huge step-pyramid with large carven stairs running down it's four sides. To the left and right of it were other stone buildings, but they were not as impressive as the pyramid. Here and there burned great fires, screened by trees. Around the great paved foot of the pyramid were echidnas, running to and fro, frantically busy. 

"I'm in the past!" Knuckles exclaimed. This was his people in their prime, as they had been a thousand years ago. Was it a dream? Could they see him? He climbed down the wall to find out. 

As he neared the hurrying echidnas, he saw they were not just civilians; these were warriors, strong and heavily built, decorated with white warpaint that set off their red or magenta fur. Some wore belts or necklaces of jewels and gold. All carried some weapon--spears, bows and quivers of arrows, swords. To his shock, some even carried firearms. The technology of gunpowder had not been lost, it seemed. 

They could see him. They glared at him, sneered or bared their fangs. One advanced up to him--a warrior not much older than himself--and punched him in the chest with the butt of his spear. Knuckles, unprepared, stumbled backward, gasping. The warrior laughed. "Where's your armor? Are you afraid to join your betters, or are you too young to leave mama?" 

Breath or no breath, that was an insult. Knuckles landed an uppercut that knocked the warrior to the pavement. 

Instantly a ring of onlookers formed around them. The warrior leaped to his feet, spear in hand. "Prepare to defend yourself!" 

"I'm gonna give it to you, jerk!" Knuckles snarled, and the fight was on. 

Knuckles had not had such a battle since Hyper Sonic. The young warrior had all of his peers watching and a reputation to maintain. Knuckles had only his honor and possibly his hide to worry about. But Knuckles won anyway. 

He stood over the young warrior, spear in hand, the head poised just over the warrior's chest. A hush fell over the onlooking crowd. Should he kill this upstart to show them he was one of them? He glanced at the wall of eyes and realized what he was doing--he was making a name for himself among his own ancestors. How foolish could he be? 

Knuckles drove the spear into the ground at the warrior's side and turned away. The echidnas parted respectfully to let him pass. 

Knuckles stalked away toward the far side of the pyramid, wiping a bit of blood from his lip as he went. Echidnas were every bit as argumentative as himself. No wonder they were all warriors. 

Abruptly a thought came to him. Were they preparing for a battle? Was that why all the warriors were about? He stopped and looked about him. Yes, those fires were burning on altars--pre-war sacrifices. Obviously they had stopped worshipping the One God and worshipped the god of snakes and chaos. Was the the civilization that had vanished? Maybe he could find out. 

A few more minutes of walking brought him to a park-like area leading to the front of the pyramid. Standing off at a distance were two echidnas, dressed quite differently from the warriors. They seemed to be talking. Knuckles approached, at once cautious and curious. 

It was a young girl echidna, and a tall, old chief. The chief had a long scar that ran down the side of his face, and was decked with elaborate jewelry and furs. He wore a ceremonial mask, but this was shoved back on his head. His face glistened with sweat--it was hot under all those clothes. The girl was dressed in the skirt-and-jewel-bedecked blouse of a princess, and wore a blue gem in a band around her forehead. She was not very old--perhaps twelve or thirteen. She was speaking earnestly as Knuckles approached. 

"Father, killing and stealing isn't right! It will never lead to peace! They are our brothers!" 

The chief replied gruffly, "You are a young girl, Tikal. What do you know of affairs of state? It is our born right to access the palace and all it contains. The guardians have no right to hoard it from us. They think that we are outsiders, just because they have the Island and we don't." 

"But father," Tikal said, clasping her hands together, "we have no right to invade their holy grounds. Can't you just talk to the guardian?" 

Knuckles watched and listened to this, pondering. What time period was this? What was going on? 

He blinked and looked around. The ancient afternoon had faded away, and he was standing on the sidewalk in front of the casino. In one hand he held the Master emerald shard. Had it been a dream? And if it had, how had he gotten out of the basement? 

His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed two figures lying asleep on the asphalt. "Sonic?" he exclaimed, trotting toward them. Sonic was lying with his head pillowed against the curb, and Tails was lying beside him, curled up in the gutter. Both were snoring softly. 

Knuckles thought of the bar he had seen inside the casino and felt immediate disgust. Were they passed-out drunk? He had never thought it of them! He whirled on his heel and stalked toward the hotel. 

As an afterthought he detoured and climbed the wide back stairs that led to the train station. He needed to return to his island and put the fragments back in the Master emerald, but before then, he had a little present to buy himself. 

The gift shop was still open, although it would close in an hour. A different clerk sat behind the counter, head bent over a novel. He looked up as Knuckles approached. "Good evening. What can I do for you?" 

Knuckles tapped the glass case. "I'd like to buy the shovel claws." He watched with anticipation as the man pulled them from behind the counter, tore off the alarm beeper and rang it up. Knuckles paid for them proudly, took them and trotted out to the street. 

The claws fit neatly over his knuclaws, the straps lashing across his palms. He cinched them tight, walked out to the beach and dug in the sand. Boy howdy, were these handy! In four seconds flat he had excavated a three foot hole and struck the water under the sand. He kicked dirt back over his hole and swung his fists a few times. This would be fun! 

He had left his knapsack with his emeralds in the hotel behind the counter for safekeeping. He walked back to the hotel, shoved open the doors-- 

\--and froze. Walking toward the elevators was the round, squat figure of Dr. Robotnik. Knuckles had not seen him in several years, but there was no mistaking that walk. 

Something glinted in Robotnik's fist. Knuckles blinked; it must be one of the Master emerald fragments. No doubt the doctor had gotten wind of the Floating Island's crash and was after the shards, just like last time.


	12. Shadows of dark creatures

The doctor stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind him. Knuckles stalked up and watched the floor lights blink up to 3, then jumped into the other elevator. 

The third floor was the hotel's restaurant, and it was quite busy. Knuckles looked about the elegant room and tables, and spied his quarry striding toward a large stage in the center of the room. Knuckles hurried after him. 

The stage was used for plays and orchestra productions, but at the present it was empty. A perfect place for a confrontation. "Robotnik!" Knuckles barked. 

The doctor turned and regarded the echidna coolly. "Well, hello Knuckles! How nice to see you again." 

"Cut the pleasantries," Knuckles growled. "Hand over the emerald piece." 

"Oh," said Robotnik innocently, "this isn't what you're after." He held up the white chaos emerald, recently stolen from Tails. 

Knuckles looked at it in surprise and realized for the first time he could hear no ring coming from it. "Uh, I guess you're right." 'Not what you're after'? How did Robotnik know what he was looking for? 

"That's okay, though," the doctor said, turning away. "I can use you as a guinea pig to test it. Chaos, come forth!" 

As an astonished Knuckles watched, a large puddle seeped up through the bricks and formed into the same creature who had smashed the Master Emerald. This time, his right arm was much thicker and had a cartilaginous skeleton inside it. He glared at the echidna with his blank green eyes as Robotnik said, "Here's a snack, Chaos!" He tossed the white gem at the monster. Chaos lifted a hand and caught it, then promptly melted into a puddle. A few seconds later he re-emerged, this time with both arms reinforced. His head was now out and down on a thickened neck, and his horns, which had before extended down his back, stuck out to the sides, like the head of a hammerhead shark. 

"Bravo my friend!" Robotnik applauded. (His applause was echoed by the patrons of the restaurant outside the stage, who thought it was some sort of skit.) 

"Huh!" Knuckles snorted at the monster. "Changing shape won't scare me! I'll bet you're not so tough." 

"Sic him, Chaos," Robotnik replied, and promptly backed off the stage. It was just the echidna and the beast. 

Chaos 2 stumped forward on his short legs, a hot pink light encircling his brain, visible through his watery flesh. Knuckles circled the stage, on his guard and wondering if the shovel claws could be used as weapons. It looked like he would get the chance to find out. Chaos turned with him, green eyes always following his prey. Suddenly he stopped, whirled in a half circle and whipped out with one arm. It stretched fifteen feet in a curve toward Knuckles, the three fingers glowing with the hot pink energy of the brain. Knuckles ducked it and ran at Chaos, who remained with his arm out for a moment. Knuckles aimed a terrific punch at the monster's big head, and his claws splashed though his forehead and struck the glowing brain. 

The energy that held the water in the beast's shape gave out, and Chaos melted into a wide puddle. Knuckles leaped and glided to a dry spot a few feet away. The water had a greasy, unwholesome feel. 

Chaos slowly pulled his molecules back together and re-formed into his original shape. Knuckles, aiming for another hit at his head, dashed forward and punched. This time Chaos blocked the blow with upflung arms. Knux retreated out of reach, and the beast growled, a sort of, "Grr-un!" 

"Ha!" Knuckles replied. "You're not as strong as Doc makes you out to be!" 

The monster blew himself up like a ball, his shape melting into a huge sphere of water full of bubbles, with his two emeralds floating above him. He began to bounce in slow motion, each blow sending out a small shockwave of electricity. "Pitiful!" Knuckles snorted. He leaped and shoved the ball with all his strength. It smacked into the ceiling and fell to the floor, not quite losing its shape, and shrank back into Chaos. Again he growled at Knuckles, and Knuckles growled back mockingly. 

Another lashing arm. The echidna dodged and homed in for another blow to the head. This time Chaos did not have enough energy to reform himself. He socked into the floor and vanished, although the chaos emeralds remained floating in the air, showing he was nearby. 

Knuckles was surprised by a round of applause and a few whistles. He looked about and saw that everyone in the restaurant had been watching his fight. Some people were even standing beside their chairs to see better. 

Robotnik stepped back up on the stage. "Chaos' strength is not yet perfected," he told the echidna. "So what if you defeated him now? Soon he will be unstoppable." 

"Yeah?" Knuckles said with a smirk, flicking water off his shovelclaws. "That still doesn't faze me, you hear?" 

Robotnik turned and began to stride away. "I know something that might," he said over his shoulder. "It's about Sonic." 

"What about Sonic?" Knuckles asked. 

Robotnik stopped and turned. "He's after the pieces of your emerald, too." 

"Now, why would Sonic be after the Master emerald?" Knuckles asked, eyes narrowing. He didn't know what was harder to believe--that Sonic was against him, or that Robotnik was telling the truth. 

"Listen, fool," Robotnik said, beginning to sound irritated. "You're not the only one on a wild goose chase. Sonic knows about the power of the Master emerald. He wants it for himself; to battle my little pet, of course." This was followed by a ghastly grin. 

"I don't believe it!" Knuckles exclaimed, although the tone of his voice proclaimed almost the opposite. 

"Belive it," Robotnik affirmed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to." He tuned and made for the elevators. Knuckles let him go. The story was almost believable ... Sonic COULD be after more power to help him defeat Chaos. That aspect didn't bother Knuckles too much--Chaos was an evil beast who meant nothing but harm. But for Sonic to be after the Master emerald shards without asking ... 

Knuckles retrieved his knapsack from the lobby, bought himself a ticket for the midnight train and returned to his island for the night. Tikal, Chaos and Sonic were a bit too much to handle all at once. He would return tomorrow. 

* * *

Sonic awoke to a world of ghostly shapes and white mist. He sat up stiffly and shivered. Where in the world was he? He was freezing cold, and water had condensed on his fur, soaking him. He stood and looked about. After a few minutes he remembered the casino, Robotnik stealing the emerald, being gassed. He and Tails must have slept out all night. So they were still in Station Square, on a foggy morning. 

He looked about for Tails and realized for the first time the fox was gone. His stomach lurched. What if Robotnik had kidnapped him? What if Chaos had come along while they were asleep and ... 

His fears were assuaged by a familiar voice calling, "G'morning, Sonic!" The hedgehog turned to see Tails come walking out of the mist with a Styrofoam cup in either hand. He handed one to Sonic and warned, "Be careful, it's hot." 

"What is it?" Sonic asked, popping open the lid and sniffing the steam. 

"Hot chocolate," Tails replied. 

The two stood on the damp sidewalk, sipping the rich, dark liquid and feeling the warmth spread through them. "Oh, that's good," Sonic sighed, wiping his mouth. "How you feel this morning?" 

"Not bad, considering I got my emerald stolen right off the bat." Tails's blue eyes flashed in fury. 

"At least the other one's safe," Sonic said, thinking of the emerald hidden in the hanger in the jungle. "Eggman must really be desperate." He blew a cloud of haze into the chilly air. "I feel better now. Let's go get breakfast and figure out a battle plan for today." 

The two read tourist brochures over a large breakfast of syrup-soaked waffles, with bacon and eggs on the side. The two decided unanimously to spend the day in the snow-capped mountains, checking for chaos emeralds, and come back that evening to go to Twinkle Park. 

Sonic found a newspaper lying on the next table and read Tails the headlines: "Killer Whale Smashes Docks." "Tornado Demolishes Wind Power System." "Hedgehog Foils Monster." 

"That's us yesterday," Sonic grinned. "Windy Valley. More like Tornado Alley!" 

It was not until the two had bought tickets for the mountain-bound train that Sonic remembered the reason for their extra cash. He winked at Tails, and the two moseyed in the direction of the gift shop. 

The clerk from the day before was there, and greeted them as they entered the store. "Hello there! Come to claim your shoes?" Sonic grinned and nodded. 

Tails put in, "I'd like the anklets, too." 

"All right, just a minute." The clerk vanished into the back room for a moment, and returned with a shoebox in one hand. This he gave to Sonic, and to Tails he gave the anklets. 

Sonic lifted the lid from the shoebox and breathed the fresh odor of clean leather. He pulled aside the layer of crinkly tissue paper and lifted out the red sneakers. Their lining was soft and smooth to the touch. He removed his dusty, faded shoes and slipped his hot feet into the new pair. They were cool inside, and conformed to the contours of his feet with comfortable precision. He pulled the tongues tight and latched the whit straps, then stood. The heels were perhaps a quarter of an inch higher than his old shoes, and a hair heavier. The large yellow air chambers in the heels were a nice touch, as well. He walked about the gift shop, admiring his feet in a tilted mirror along the wall. The crimson and white were fresh and clean compared to his old shoes--he hadn't realized how dirty they were. His new shoes felt so good he couldn't wait to get out and run. 

Meanwhile, Tails had clamped the anklets to his heels. He paced about the shop a few times, trying to figure out how to activate them, then as an afterthought picked up the instruction sheet. It turned out that the insides of the anklets had a small switch. All he must do was slap his feet together to turn them on. He did. His feet shot forward with a whoosh and he landed hard on his tails. 

"Whoa, whoa, not in here!" the clerk warned. 

Tails swiftly shut them off. "Sorry," he said, blushing to the ears under his fur. "Sonic, got the money?" 

"Right here." The hedgehog had already dished out his hard-earned cash. The total came to 650 dollars, which left them with fifty dollars, plus the modest amount Sonic and Tails had brought from home. 

"Not bad," Sonic commented as they left the store. "Let me put my old shoes back in my room, and we'll run around a bit. We got an hour before the train gets here." 

The beach in front of the Sunset Resort witness quite a show as the two played in the slowly clearing fig and learned about their toys at the same time. Tails decided it was best not to activate his anklets at all while running, as he inevitably fell over backward. Flying was another matter--he could fly as fast as Sonic could run, which was really something. 

Sonic could find nothing special about his sneakers at first. If anything, their extra weight slowed him down. But a chance spindash revealed what those special heels were really for; a spindash created a tremendous amount of energy, which was captured in his shoes. This was released in the form of a speeding dash that was dangerous in its strength. "Awesome!" he announced to Tails. "Watch this!" He promptly dashed himself into a palm tree that was hidden by the fog. "Good going, graceful!" Tails called. 

A train whistle drew them back to the station. This train was bound for the White Tip Mountains, directly east of the city. The ride was tow hours long, and once they stopped to take on an extra engine. Then up they went, puffing up the mountain in a series of switchbacks and tunnels. The passengers found their ears popping from the ascent. 

Gradually it grew colder, and patches of dirty snow appeared in the shade of the evergreen trees. Tails spied more snow on the north side of a ridge above them. Then they plunged into a black tunnel. For half an hour they could see nothing but the inside of the train, hear nothing but the amplified train noise around them. They began to climb steeply. 

Suddenly they popped into brilliant sunlight. "Wow!" Sonic exclaimed, gluing his nose to the window. There were ascending a steep mountainside, and all about them was snow and rock. "Wow!" Tails echoed, pressing his face to the window as well. "Look up there! A ski lift!" Sure enough, in the distance rose a line of what looked like telephone poles with tiny chairs suspended from the wires. "Sonic, can we ski?" Tails exclaimed. 

"Sure, if they have a rental place," Sonic replied. "I haven't skied in years--or snowboarded. Yeah, that's what I'M gonna do." He chuckled in anticipation. 

At last the train pulled into the station and the attendants opened the doors. Sonic and Tails charged out. It was not terribly cold--perhaps thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and the sun was shining. Sonic drew a deep breath of the thin air and blew it out in steam. "C'mon, let's find the lodge!" 

"Weren't we gonna look for emeralds?" 

"Sure, but we're gonna need boards to do that. C'mon!" The hedgehog led the way off the wooden platform, along an icy path and up the hill toward a sprawling, snow-roofed building with smoke rising from its chimney. 

All-morning lift-tickets were 10 bucks apiece, and equipment rentals were another twenty. "This had better be worth it," Sonic grumbled as he shelled out his remaining cash. "Sixty bucks! Outrageous!" 

"No kidding," Tails muttered. "This'll break us if we're not careful." 

They hung their lift tickets around their necks, then picked out their equipment. Sonic selected a bright yellow snowboard with red and blue designs on it. Tails picked out a pair of sparkly silver ski-boots and silver skis. Then the two headed for the hills. 

Just below the lodge was the 'bunny hill', where all the rookies learned to ski and ride the lift. There were lots of kids and instructors, and once in a while an expert would skim by like a low-flying bird. Sonic tore down pell-mell on his board, nearly mowing down two struggling youngsters. Tails began at a gentler pace, half afraid he had forgotten how to ski. To his relief it all returned as soon as he began to descend. Before long he was 'stemming Christy' like a veteran, relishing the creak of the snow beneath his skis. 

Sonic, scorning the bunny hill lift, went on down the mountain in search of the expert runs. He fell several times on the slope, as is the way with armature snowboarders, but fortunately Tails was too far behind to make snide comments. Sonic was up and waiting at a big lift when his sidekick finally showed up, panting and snow-flecked. 

The lift was the triple-chair kind, and the two rode up with a human skier. It turned out his name was Jeff and he worked as a ski instructor. They talked about skiing, snowboarding, the disagreeable icy crust on the snow and which runs were the most challenging. "I'd advise you don't go down the south side of the mountain," he told them as they neared the top. "All of those are black diamond expert runs, and they get really dangerous in the afternoons, when the sun has been on them all day. Avalanche trouble." Then they were at the top. Jeff glided away down the hill and they didn't see him again. 

They played all morning, Chaos and Robotnik driven clean out of their heads. They stopped for hot chocolate at eleven-thirty, then decided to ski one more slope before their lift tickets expired. Sonic made for the black diamond runs on the southern slopes. Tails, of course, went with him. 

The air was unusually warm and still, they noticed. The run was in the bottom of a canyon most of the way down, then passed through an icy tunnel and emerged in a wide, rocky slope. "This is the longest one, according to the map," Sonic remarked as they stood at the top, gazing down. "We'll have quite a ride." 

"I don't like the way it feels," Tails replied dubiously, shifting a little on his skis. "I'll bet we start an avalanche or something." 

"Ah, don't be such a scaredy fox!" Sonic scoffed. "Nothing'll happen. Last one down is a rotten eggman!" He leaped off the edge with a "Yee-ha!" Tails hesitated a split second, then followed. 

The small pressure of their passing dislodged a few crumbs of snow that rolled down the slope a little way. These knocked loose bigger chucks, which tore loose slabs, which launched half the mountainside downhill. 

Sonic heard an odd rumbling behind him and looked over his shoulder. His yell of fearful surprise alerted Tails, and the two began to pour on the speed like never before. 

The slope was nearly vertical in places, and panicked skiers and snowboarders could achieve extreme speeds in seconds. This they did, tearing down the mountain with the avalanche consuming all at their heels. The thunder of the falling snow and rock filled the canyon, shaking the snow beneath their feet. 

Ahead the run vanished into a wide blue tunnel. "Don't stop, Tails!" Sonic yelled. "C'mon! C'mon!" They plunged into icy dimness. The snow was frozen into ice, and they could get little traction. The two simply slid down it, trying to avoid the walls and stay erect. The tunnel was long and straight, but such was their speed they shot through it in perhaps ten seconds. 

Blinding sun on white snow. Sonic cast a glance over his shoulder and realized the avalanche had stopped at the tunnel mouth. "Whoo-hoo, we made it!" he whooped to Tails. "Race ya!" 

"What do you think I've been doing?" Tails yelled back. 

Now the danger was past and the canyon had receded into an open slope dotted with rocks and trees, they began to play. They pulled 280s off rocks and 360s off small cliffs, wherever they could manage a jump. "Nah nah, I'll beat you down!" Tails yelled, leaping into the air and spinning his tails. His momentum shot him away down the hill. "Cheater!" Sonic yelled after him, cutting a long curve in the white crust. 

Suddenly, from out of nowhere it seemed, a squadron of small fighter planes appeared, swept low over the hillside and dropped a curtain of bombs. Sonic and Tails were travelling so fast they barely glimpsed the jets, and the bombs and explosions missed by a mile. 

"What the heck was THAT?" Sonic hollered, not daring to look back at his speed. 

"I donno!" Tails yelled back. "We're almost to the bottom. Hey--!" The fox's ski snagged on something and threw Tails completely off his feet. He fell and rolled in a cloud of snow, skis and tails flying. Twenty feet later he came to a stop, lying stunned on his back. 

Sonic swept by him, turned his board sideways and grated to a stop. He unlatched one foot and hopped back up the hill, toward his sidekick. 

Tails sat up and brushed the snow from his fur. He had lost both his poles, and both skis had come off. One ski was a good ways down the slope, near Sonic, and the other was up the hill where he had snagged it. Tails stood in his cramped boots and trudged up the hill to recover his gear. 

"You okay?" Sonic called. 

"Yeah," Tails called back. "Can you grab my ski?" 

"Sure." 

It was very quiet and still now that they had stopped. The only sound was their feet crunching in the snow and their panting breath. Tails wondered why ski boots were so comfortable while skiing and so uncomfortable while walking. Now that he had time to notice it, his feet were freezing. His entire front half was freezing from the wind of speed, and tingled with his racing blood. He grabbed up one pole and used it to climb with, then the other. Now only his ski ... It appeared to be caught on a rock of some kind. He lifted his ski clumsily and kicked the rock. To his surprise it came loose and rolled a few feet. A green, shimmering rock. 

Sonic thought Tails had been shot from the way he yelled. Sonic jumped and looked toward his sidekick to see Tails dance around, waving his poles and yelling incoherently. "Tails, what's wrong?" Sonic exclaimed. 

The fox ran and stumbled down the hill toward him. "An emerald! An emerald!" he was gasping. "I tripped over it! Look!" He thrust it into Sonic's hands. 

Sonic stared. "It's the green chaos emerald, all right! Whoa! What luck!" He tilted it, letting the multiple facets of the gem catch the sunlight. 

"Do you think those planes knew this was here?" Sonic said abruptly, gazing up the mountain toward where the bombers had gone. Tails turned and looked uphill apprehensively. "Eggman," the two murmured. 

A moment later the two had re-donned their gear and were flying down the slope. No more fun and games--they expected at any moment to be attacked by a certain hovercraft. 

But at last they reached the bottom of the mountain, and nothing had happened. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as they hitched a ride on the lift for the last time that day. "Well, we got an emerald," he told his sidekick. "Now let's go get lunch and see when Twinkle Park opens." 

"Sounds good to me," Tails agreed. "I wonder what those fighters were for?" 

They puzzled over it as the lift bore them upward, through trees, over rocks and snow, and at last to the lodge at the top. Neither had any real ideas, other than maybe Robotnik had taken a potshot at them. (Or Metal Sonic, perhaps.) 

They turned in their skis and tickets, picked up their shoes and headed for the train station. "Boy, I'm froze," Tails said, folding his arms and shivering. "I'm all wet from falling down." 

"It'll be warm on the train," Sonic assured him. "Just a second. Our tickets were two-way." He left Tails standing in the sun and walked away toward the ticket booths. Tails waited, wondering if his wet fur would smell on the train as it dried. 

Sonic returned, an odd look on his face. "Um, Tails," he said, "the train's on strike." 

Tails stared at him. "What did you say?" 

"The train's on strike," Sonic repeated, as if he couldn't believe it himself. "Just started a couple hours ago. Nobody's gonna work until they get higher wages and better conditions." He stamped a foot resoundingly on the wooden platform. "What about US, those jerks? What about all the other people who need the trains to get around?" 

Tails turned and looked down the empty tracks. "How're we gonna get back to Station Square?" 

"Walk, I guess," Sonic replied. "Mystic Ruins is closer, though." He jerked a thumb in the direction of a beaten path curving away into the trees. "People are supposed to hike up here all the time. We'll take the trail." 

They headed down the mountain without ado. Tails, wanting to warm himself somehow, airlifted Sonic and activated his anklets. The two shot down the mountain, Sonic whooping with delight. After several minutes Tails landed to catch his breath, then did it again. 

Thus they made it back to Mystic Ruins at one-thirty in the afternoon. The trail approached it from the south, so the two swung by the hanger and had a late lunch before going any further. 

Sonic pulled out the chaos emeralds, red and green, and looked at them as he ate. "Haven't seen these suckers in years," he muttered. "Tails, I got an idea. How about we show these to those explorer guys and see if they've found any?" 

"Okay," Tails replied. "But when you're done, I'm gonna put 'em in my plane, and we'll fly back to Station Square." 

"Cool." 

The leader of the Mystic Ruins group was busy working on a small cart on tracks that wound into a cave in the mountainside. He looked at the emeralds and shook his head--he hadn't seen any gems like that. Sonic thanked him, shrugged at Tails and turned to return to the hanger. 

Barring their way was Knuckles. 

The echidna had been up since dawn, wandering in the bottoms of the Windy Valley canyon. The canyon, at its far end, broke into stands of rock, pillars and cliffs, some of which spouted fire and sulphur. For this reason the area was known collectively as Red Mountain. The wind tore through it at vicious speeds, and there were only a few of the biggest windmills here and there, all turning steadily. Knuckles had fought the wind, gliding from clifftop to clifftop, watching hawks soaring above him and wishing he could hover like they could. He recovered a grand total of four small fragments in the course of the day. Weary and beginning to despair of ever repairing the Master emerald, he glided back to Mystic Ruins, heard voices-- 

\--And saw Sonic with something green glinting in his hands. 

Dr. Robotnik's words returned to Knuckles in a rush. "He's after the pieces of your emerald, too." The echidna harbored just enough suspicion in his heart to believe it. 

"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed, forgetting all about the emeralds in his hands. "Man, it's good to see you again! How are you?" 

The echidna leaped forward and swung a fist that would have laid the hedgehog out if it had connected. Sonic dodged and retreated a few steps, wary once again. "What's up, Knux? Something bugging you?" His eyes lingered a second on the gleaming shovel claws. He had better watch out for those. Too bad he couldn't show his former friend his shoes. 

"No time to explain, Sonic," Knuckles growled. "Hand over the emeralds you have, right now!" 

Sonic was instantly on the defensive. He and Tails had worked hard for those. "I'd like to see you take 'em!" he challenged. 

A battle ensued. Tails stood back and watched, half wanting to join in and half wanting to hide. Sonic spindashed, leaped, ducked and dodged, biting his tongue against the insults that rose to mind. To taunt an already angry Knuckles was to welcome still more punishment. Knuckles struck at Sonic again and again, aiming his blows at the hedgehog's head and hands. Although riled, his mind was clear. In the bottom his his heart he had no wish to hurt the hedgehog--at least not seriously. But if Sonic wouldn't relinquish his handful of shards, then he must be pounded until he did. 

A cruise-missile punch and a spindash connected, and both opponents his the ground, stunned. The emeralds flew from Sonic's hands and bounced to a stop several feet away. Tails ran to pick them up, was something struck him in the back and knocked him sprawling. He lifted his head and saw with horrified anger that Robotnik, in his little hovercraft, had knocked him down and was picking up the emeralds with a small tractor beam. 

Tails leaped to his feet. Sonic and Knuckles were climbing groggily to their feet, blinking at Robotnik in disbelief. 

"Like taking candy from a baby!" Robotnik laughed cruelly, holding aloft an emerald in either hand. "You three performed wonderfully! It's a good thing for me you're so gullible." 

Sonic looked at Knuckles, mouth open. "Don't tell me he tricked you again!" 

"Me?" Knuckles exclaimed angrily. He saw plainly that Sonic had only had two chaos emeralds and not Master emerald fragments at all, and felt rather ashamed. "What about YOU?" 

"Way to go, Knucklehead," Sonic said sarcastically. 

"You're all idiots," Robotnik chuckled. "Looks like we shall have a bit of fun here in a moment. Here Chaos, here boy!" 

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles watched with disgust as a huge puddle seeped out of the grass, rose and solidified into Chaos, both arms reinforced, head down and eyes glaring. "Time to eat, Chaos!" Robotnik called, and tossed them emeralds to the monster. Chaos caught them in his hands, then melted into a puddle. Slowly more water was pulled out of the ground, deepening and widening the size of the small puddle. Then Chaos rose again and congealed. 

"Look, he's changed again!" Tails cried. 

"Nobody ever cuts us any slack," Sonic agreed. 

Chaos was now a fifteen-foot shark with a knife-like tail-fin. He stared at them for a second with eyes that had more shape and depth than before, then leaped away on his fins and plunged into the nearby pond at the foot of the cliffs. 

"Just you watch, Eggman!" Sonic yelled, shaking a fist. "We'll beat him! C'mon Tails, we'll whup that sorry fish!" He wheeled and pelted for the pond, Tails hot on his heels. Knuckles stood and watched them go, undecided whether to help them or walk away. 

"Don't worry," said Robotnik's voice close at hand. Knuckles jumped--he had forgotten about him. "After Chaos has four emeralds in him," Robotnik continued, "he can devour flesh. You need not worry about those pests again." 

Knuckles gave him a fiery look. "Eggman," he spat, deciding that it was a good nickname after all. "I ain't no coward." 

"Then why are you cowering back here while Sonic and Tails give Chaos battle?" Robotnik sneered. 

Chaos 4 found the pond only a feet feet deep, but as Sonic and Tails were up to their necks in several places, he decided it was deep enough. 

The surface of the pond was covered with a mat of lilypads and slime, and Chaos could swim beneath it without a ripple. He preferred to come up behind the hedgehog and try to knock him senseless with a furious tail-slap. The fox he simply ignored, deciding him neutral. 

Sonic leaped clear of a lashing tail, gave a yell and spindashed at Chaos. There was a huge splash, and Sonic found himself standing in muddy water up to his waist. "Missed!" he exclaimed. 

Tails leaped into the air and looked into the pond from above. "There he is!" he yelled, pointing to a far corner of the pond. Without waiting for Sonic, the youngster dropped and lashed the water with his tails. He felt them connect with something solid, then was thrown backward as the water beneath him exploded upward. Chaos' head appeared above the water--the disturbed water was too murky for even his eyes. 

"Hit his brain!" someone yelled. "Now! Now!" 

Sonic leaped into the air, spun himself and crashed into the beast's forehead. His whirling spines struck the glowing brain, and Chaos' form vanished with a mighty splash. 

Knuckles landed on the muddy bank nearby. "He loses energy when you hit his brain!" the echidna called. "Watch out, here he comes again!" 

Sonic whirled in time to duck a fearsome blow that would have split his skull. He dove across the pond, panting, hoping to get enough space to turn and attack again, but Chaos snarled and gave chase, moving through the water with the swift grace of a manta ray. Tails and Knuckles leaped into the fray. 

Tails struck another glancing blow, attracting the monster's attention momentarily. Chaos reared himself out of the water, brain glowing so brightly he seemed to radiate light from his whole body. Tails cowered down, momentarily unable to think of what to do. Suddenly Knuckles leaped between the terrified fox and Chaos. "Back off!" he yelled, and dealt the monster an uppercut that splashed through the lower jaw and upwards into the brain. Again Chaos melted. 

"Way to go, Knux!" Sonic applauded from across the pond. 

"Don't look now," Knuckles replied, "but now he's after me. Get him, you two!" The echidna leaped and glided across the pond, a pink blur following almost in his shadow. Sonic and Tails gave chase. 

It was a strange picture they made. The three appeared to be yelling, jumping and splashing in some sort of game. "Tag, maybe?" one human asked his companion as they gazed down at the pond. They watched as the three bounded, splashed, fell and got up again, yelling incoherently all the while. The second human shrugged and circled his ear with one finger. "Mobians. They're nutty. C'mon, let's go." 

Tails dealt the last blow, finally landing one to the head as Chaos was about to pounce on Knuckles. The monster melted for the last time and sank from view. 

The three stood up to their knees in muddy water, mud-splattered and dripping, but triumphant. "We did it!" Sonic whooped suddenly. "We whupped that lousy shark!" The three cheered wildly, and Sonic led the way in climbing out of the water and swaggering up to Robotnik's ship. 

"I think you picked the wrong critter for a weapon, Eggman," Sonic told him. "I've had more challenge fighting you!" He punctuated this with a scornful, "Ha!" 

Without warning the sun vanished, as if it had been snuffed out by a cloud. The three looked up at the sky and gasped, momentarily stunned. Floating overhead and seeming to fill the sky was a monstrous aircraft. It was shaped like no machine they had ever seen, but it had Robotnik's style written all over it. Aside from a quiet rumble of engines, it made no sound. 

"Behold my floating masterpiece, the Egg Carrier!" Robotnik said grandly, encompassing the craft with a sweep of an arm. "It is incredibly powerful, but it pales in comparison to the power of Chaos." As he spoke, a bright turquoise beam appeared from the ship high above and lifted his hovercraft into the sky. "Adieu, until we meet again, my friends!" he laughed, then vanished into the ship above. At once the beam shifted to the pond and lifted several hundred gallons of water out of it. This, too, was pulled into the Egg Carrier. Obviously Robotnik was taking Chaos with him. 

As they watched, the ship slowly turned and crept in the direction of Sapphire Bay, accelerating until it was out of sight. 

"Tails," Sonic said, breaking the silence, "go warm up your plane! We won't let him get away that easy!" 

"Right!" the fox replied, eyes brightening with hope. "No, not the Tornado," he thought to himself as he pelted for the hanger. "I want to try out Mac's other plane first. Good thing I hid the Tornado ... Sonic hasn't seen it yet ..." 

Sonic started after Tails, but was stopped as Knuckles spoke his name. He paused and turned back. Knuckles slowly approached, eyes downcast. "Sonic, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have thrown you off my island that day, but it's a long story and there's not time now." The echidna looked into his friend's face and saw the quiet joy in his eyes. "Do you think they'll let me rejoin the Freedom Fighters?" 

"Knux," Sonic said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "we've missed you so much its pathetic. Of COURSE you can come back! The sooner the better. Really, as far as I'm concerned, you were back in when you pitched in to Chaos." He slapped the echidna's shoulder. "Now, I gotta go." 

"Have fun," Knuckles said as Sonic turned to run. "I have some unfinished business of my own." 

Tails was just opening the hanger doors as Sonic jogged up. "Wait here a minute, Sonic," the fox said, slipping inside. Sonic waited obediently, gazing at the dirt strip in front of the hanger and wondering if it were possible to take off in the rain, when it was a sea of mud. The minutes ticked by. Sonic tapped his foot idly. Every minute the Egg Carrier was getting further away. Where WAS that kid? He started forward, intending to find him-- 

\--and was stopped as the ground beneath his feet jolted. Before him the dirt strip split down the center and slid apart, revealing a painted asphalt runway beneath that lifted to the level of the ground and locked. At the same time, the scattered palm trees tilted sideways, leaning away from the runway, turned by underground machinery. Sonic watched, agape. 

The double doors slid open, and a red and white bi-plane emerged from the hanger, Tails seated proudly in the cockpit. "Hope on, Sonic!" he called as he taxied onto the runway. Sonic, still amazed but recovering, leaped lightly onto the tail section and sat down. There was no space for wing-riding on this plane. 

Tails revved the engines, took off down the runway to gain speed, then pulled up the plane's nose. The black expanse of runway flashed by beneath the wings, then it was gone and there was only blue space. Sonic's head was snapped back as they ascended, but he managed to retain his balance. "Hang on, Sonic!" Tails yelled. "We're outta here!" 

"I don't have anything to hang on to!" Sonic called forward against the wind. 

"I can fix that," Tail replied, pressing a button. 

A panel opened just in front of Sonic, and up popped an anti-aircraft machine gun. "Extra rounds are looped around the base!" the fox yelled as Sonic grabbed the gun's stock. "Make 'em count! We don't have many!" 

"This ain't gonna be like chasing Wing Fortress," Sonic called. "We'll do him some damage this time!" 

By this time Tails had circled and gained five thousand feet. Deciding it was enough for the time being, he set his course for Sapphire Bay in pursuit of the big ship. 

* * *

Robotnik strode out of the entrance hall, still chuckling to himself. Behind him came Chaos 4, waddling on all fours like a lizard. The doctor entered an elevator, called Chaos to come in with him and rode the lift down to the belly of the ship, just behind the rear engines. "Welcome to the Hot Shelter," he said to his pet. "Make yourself at home. 

It was his first mistake. Chaos' green eyes took in the vast tanks of tropical fish and underwater plants, and into the monster's head entered the first inkling that his master had no love of the sea. Why else would he imprison these fish on board his flying city? Slowly Chaos moved to the biggest tank, then melted, poured up the glass and into the tank. "Enjoy yourself," Robotnik said, grinning at the formless eyes that now looked out at him. Chuckling, he strode back to the lift. 

Metal Sonic met him as he stepped out at the top. "All Carrier systems are on-line," the robot said, falling into step beside his master. "E-Zero has captured another dozen small birds for use in units. They are in holding bay four. I have begun re-construction of E-101 Beta in construction bay fifteen." 

"You have been busy," Robotnik said approvingly. "Good job." 

"Thank you, sir," Mecha purred. He rarely received praise for his work and appreciated it. Another item in his memory list came to the top. "Oh, and sir ..." 

"Yes?" 

"There is ... ah ... a visitor to see you." 

Robotnik stopped and looked at the robot from under one raised eyebrow. "A visitor? Not an enemy?" 

"No ... she is not an enemy. She came on board shortly before takeoff, claiming she desired your assistance." 

"What species?" 

Mecha hesitated. "Mobian." 

"Yes, but what kind?" 

"I'm not sure, sir. My databanks do not contain her ... species." He pronounced the last word as if reluctant to use it. "She is in the main hall." 

"Armed?" asked Robotnik, turning aside to take another lift to the main hall in the top floor of the ship. Mecha entered it with him. "I don't believe so, but I shall accompany you just in case." 

They stepped out of the elevator. Robotnik glared about the grand room for this 'visitor' and spotted a dark creature seated on a bench in the corner. He strode up to her. 

It was what appeared to be a female anteater. Her fur was such a deep brown it was nearly black, but matted with mud and grime. She wore no shoes, and her hands and feet were sharply clawed. A single orange stripe traced down her forehead to the top of her nose. What was left of her clothing hung about her in rags. Her left arm hung at her side, useless, fingers curled into claws. Her left knee had no fur on it at all, and underneath was exposed a robotic knee joint, complete with bolts and wires. 

She looked up and asked quietly, "Are you Doctor Robotnik?" 

"Yes," he replied. "What do you want?" 

"Your help, if you please," she said. "I am an android in desperate need of repair. I have journeyed far to find you." 

He gazed at her with new respect. No wonder Mecha had been unable to identify her species. "What makes you think I can help you?" 

"You built this ship," she said, gesturing to the room about them with her good hand. 

"What is your construction data?" 

She proceeded to reel off a list of numbers, abbreviations and decimal points Mecha recognized as a list of her parts. She was far more complex than himself. 

Robotnik listened intently, impressed. Whoever had built her was a genus. "All right, I'll repair you," he said, "but you must do something for me." 

"Anything." 

"Kill Sonic the Hedgehog and bring me proof you have done so." 

She looked at him a moment. "My first objective is to kill Knuckles the echidna and his ward Talon," she replied evenly, "but that will be my alternate objective." 

"Very well," Robotnik smiled. "Mecha, take her to construction bay ten. I will be along momentarily." 

"Well!" he thought as his robot led the strange android from the room. "Whoever she is, she's my kind of girl! Out to get Knuckles, indeed. Well, I'll see to it I embed a tracking device in her so I can find her again." 

First Robotnik dropped by holding bay four, where Zero had deposited his prisoners. Zero had been his first try at creating the E-series and was quite primitive as robots went. The thing couldn't even speak. But it was very quick-moving and excelled at catching small animals. 

The robot was busy shoving birds into cages as Robotnik entered. "Hello, Zero. Catch me another batch?" 

It made a beeping sound--yes, it had. 

"I'll be around for them at 1800 hours," Robotnik said, and closed the door as he left. 

Zero thrust the last bird into a cage and set it on the shelf. He had one cage left over. Funny, he had been certain he had had twelve birds. Where had it gone? He rolled across the floor to the door and opened it, only to see a small green shape flit down the hallway. How dare it escape! Enraged, Zero gave chase.


	13. Steel clouds floating in the air

Meanwhile, back in Station Square, a young hedgehog was strolling along the sidewalk, a grocery bag in her arms. 

"Gee, I'm bored," she muttered aloud to no one in particular. "Every day it's the same old thing. Same place, different day." She thought glumly of her home back north. Although much more dangerous, it had never been boring. Of course, she did not remember the constant fear of being captured and robotized, which was why her family had moved to Sapphire City. She had been too young at the time to understand. 

Amy Rose ran a hand through her short, soft spines. They hung about her face like human hair. She wore a light cotton dress, bright red. Her shoes were thick-soled and also red. She wore a red ribbon in her hair, and was the very personation of cute, if she had known it. 

But she didn't know it. All she could think of was how hot the afternoon had grown and how bored she was. She had run out to do a bit of grocery shopping for her mother, and even that was commonplace. Exciting things happened to other people, like that guy in the newspaper who had defeated that monster a few days earlier. Never to Amy. 

"Things weren't boring when Sonic was around," she thought. "Ah, Sonic ... my hero." She thought dreamily of the blue hedgehog on whom she had developed a terrific crush. "Chasing down bad guys ... and blowing them away!" She remembered being attacked by a blue robot with red eyes and screaming for help; then from out of nowhere Sonic had appeared. He had freed her from the robot, tucked her under one arm and run like the wind. The robot had pursued them a short way, firing rockets, but at least gave up and fell behind. Another time she had followed Sonic on one of his missions, determined to prove herself of some worth to him. Instead she had blown his cover, and once again he had had to save her from the robots. This had only intensified her feelings for him. 

Then her family had moved away, and she hadn't heard of Sonic since. She sighed. "Now he's gone, and there's nothing left to do." 

Suddenly the city was plunged into shadow. "What's going on?" she said aloud, looking around. "Nobody forecast a storm or anything--is there an eclipse or--" The pink hedgehog looked up as she spoke, and her words died away in a sharp gasp. 

Filling the sky above the buildings was a monstrous airship. It passed slowly overhead, engines rumbling softly. Traffic screeched to a halt, people got out of their cars and stared upward, mouths hanging open in shock. It was too big for Amy to grasp. She saw dark red curves, long yellow strips, grey metal trim, blue and green flashing lights, more brick fuselage, and finally blue flames spurting from the rear jets, leaving a trail of white smoke in their wake. 

Amy stared, unaware that the grocery bag had dropped from her lifeless hands. How could something that big fly? From a great distance, she recalled something about a Robotnik, who built robots and huge aircraft. Could this be something of Dr. Robotnik's, this far south? 

As the monstrous aircraft slowly faded into the distance, something glinted in the sky above her. Amy glanced up and saw what at first she mistook for a piece of paper fluttering down. Presently she realized it was not a scrap, but a little bird. She watched it a second, then gazed after the Egg Carrier. When she looked for the bird again, it was to see a flash of color as a hard little skull cracked into her forehead. 

"Ow!" she cried, stumbling to her knees and holding her head. "Watch where you're going, buddy!" She looked around for the bird and saw it lying on the sidewalk a few feet away, eyes closed and tiny body heaving. It had probably been hurt worse than she had. "Are you okay?" she asked in a softer tone. "You look kinda hurt." She climbed to her feet and picked the bird up. He blinked and looked up at her. He trembled like a leaf in her hands, too frightened yet to make a peep. "It's okay," she assured him, holding him to her chest and stroking his green feathered head. 

Suddenly there came a metallic thud from down the street. Amy looked up and gasped. There stood a six foot tall black and green garbage can with arms. The upper half of the can was divided into sections, and a pair of electronic green eyes stared out expressionlessly. It rolled toward her, arms outstretched. 

Amy flattened herself to the side of the building as it went past, clutched the bird protectively. The robot whirled and faced her, puzzled. It had not expected her to dodge. "Watch where you're going, creep!" Amy said shrilly. "You almost ran me over!" In reply it again charged. The young hedgehog whirled and ran. 

She knew she couldn't outrun it--she was not much of a runner--she had better hide somewhere. On impulse she ducked into a store called Burger Shop, vaulted over the counter and crouched behind it. The clerk looked down at her in surprise. "What's up, Amy?" 

"Mark, don't let that robot know I'm here!" she replied in an urgent whisper. He shrugged. "Okay ..." 

A mechanical whirr passed by the open door, passed again, then again as Zero searched for her. Finally his sound faded into the distance. 

"It's gone," Mark said. "You can come out now." 

Amy stood and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! Stupid robot." She climbed back over the counter and sat on a barstool. "Thanks Mark. I guess I owe you one." 

"No problem," the human said with a smile. "Hey, why was that robot after you?" 

"He wants Birdie," Amy said firmly. She looked down at the bird and thought of something. "I'll bet you were on that big ship! They captured you, and somehow you got away, right?" 

The bird nodded, liquid eyes fixed on his young guardian's face. 

"Don't worry, Birdy," Amy said earnestly. "I'll stand by you all the way!" 

Amy didn't know it, but she held in her hands a Class A Flicky. Royal Flickies lived only on Flicky Island, while their larger cousins lived on the mainland. Class A's were not as sophisticated as their relatives, but were usually quite intelligent and most could speak. Robotnik prized them, for their size and IQ made them excellent for badnik pilots. 

The pink hedgehog stepped out of the shop and looked sharply about for robots, but Zero had departed. "He's gone," she announced to the flicky. "Oh my gosh, the groceries!" She flew to her dropped bag and picked it up, thankful to see that nothing had been harmed. "I've got to go home," she told the bird. "You'd better go home, too." She held him out. He fluttered his wings and took off, but flew in a circle and returned to perch on her head. "Aw, you're lost," she said compassionately. "Well then, I guess you can come home with me. I'll take you to the beach tonight so you can get your bearings." The pink hedgehog turned and trotted down the street, the green bird flying along just over her right ear. 

* * *

A burst of orange spurted from the barrel of the machine gun, tearing the clear air with a ratta ratta ratta. Sonic swung the gun sideways, following the motion of a fighter jet painted like a green and white shark. The fighter jolted and screamed sideways in a spiral, flame and smoke pouring from its side. "Got 'im!" Sonic announced. 

The red bi-plane was bearing down on the Egg Carrier like a sparrow pursuing a hawk, Tails holding a steady course. When they had closed the distance to three klicks (kilometers), the shark fighters appeared, screaming out to meet their prey. Sonic was ready for them and tallied seven already. 

Now the scattered fighters were flocking back to their mothership to regroup, and Sonic and Tails had a breather. "Hey, you know what the gunner's death rate is?" Tails hollered to his gunner. 

"Believe me, I don't want to know!" called Sonic, who had already seen more tracer bullets than he cared to think about. "Are we gonna try to land on the thing?" 

"Of course!" 

The Egg Carrier was slowly growing larger ahead o them, a winged monster of malice. It stood out darkly against the dazzling afternoon air and brilliant white clouds. A series of grey specks appeared near its underbelly. "Hold on to your hat, 'cause here they come!" Tails announced. Sonic adjusted his grip on the firing controls of the gun. 

* * *

Except for the bridge, where Metal Sonic was gleefully coordinating attack patterns, the interior of the Egg Carrier was fairly quiet. Its master was not worried about a single-fighter attack. In fact, Robotnik was standing on the raised platform in the amphitheater/main hall, preparing to brief his pet E-series robots. 

Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta stood in a row, gazing at their master respectfully, awaiting his orders. Robotnik flicked on his microphone, cleared his throat and spoke into it. "Ah, testing, one, two, three." His coarse voice filled the room nicely. He spread his arms and began. "You, the elite E-series machines, have been gathered here today for a mission, a mission on which you will prove your worth." He clicked a remote control, and on a screen behind him appeared a rotating 3-D picture of a green frog. "Behold, a tailed frog!" Robotnik said as the robots scanned it. "Very unique. Bring it to me. I don't care what it takes, but I want that frog! The one who brings it to me will be highly favored." He paused and looked at the robots, who faced him dumbly, four pairs of identical green eyes. "What are you waiting for? Get going!" 

As one, they turned and clanked away toward the elevators. 

Gamma had been hooked up to the Egg Carrier mainframe and had settled easily into his role of mindless servant. His brother-robots were quick to correct him and aid him as he went about his duties, but none more than the blue droid, Delta. Although Zeta was technically the boss of the four (as Beta had been removed), Delta had the stronger personality. It was he who saw to it that Gamma was taken care of. 

Now, as they trooped aboard the elevators, Delta instructed Gamma in a soft monotone. "Your sector is Station Square. Do not be afraid of the humans. Act peaceably and they will aid you. But do not fire upon any of them! Dr. Robotnik would dislike it if he had to hunt you down and rebuild your charred hull." 

"Affirmative," Gamma replied, taking all this down in his memory like notes. "Humans are not hostile except in defense. What date are we to report in?" 

"Tomorrow at 0800 hours. The Egg Carrier will be docked in the Mystic Ruins base." 

"Affirmative." 

The elevator doors opened, and the four trooped toward the shuttle bay. Their first real mission! 

* * *

As the E-series departed from one side of the Egg Carrier, Sonic clung desperately to his machine gun on the other side, unable to shift a finger to the trigger--Tails was weaving sideways in loops, trying to avoid the lethal anti-aircraft missiles that were whistling at them from cannons on the Carrier's wing. Sonic could do nothing but hang on for dear life and watch. 

A shark fighter appeared out of nowhere and screeched down upon them on a collision course. "Sonic!" Tails yelled. Sonic, fighting centrifugal force, wrenched the gun about and sent a spray of bullets into the sky. The fighter burst into flames and whistled past, scarcely missing them. 

Tails nosed the plane down, and they dove under the Egg Carrier's belly. His idea was to come up in front of the craft, circle back and land on one of the airstrips. If he had known more about Robotnik, that would have been the last thing in the world he would have attempted, especially in that plane. 

Sonic stared up at the monster above them, like a vast ceiling. They were perhaps seventy feet from it, and he could see all the paneling and rocket launchers clearly. On impulse he jerked the gun up and fired it at the launchers. They dented and exploded quite nicely. 

By the time they emerged from beneath the Egg Carrier, Sonic was almost out of ammo and there were three intact rocket launchers left. "We did it!" Tails yelled into the wind. 

"Yeah!" Sonic yelled back, punching a fist into the air. 

The plane swept skyward, swung around and back toward the oncoming monster. 

Suddenly the long red snout of the Egg Carrier split open and slid apart, revealing an enormous glowing green lens. Loudspeakers crackled from the ship--Robotnik's voice, garbled by wind and distance. But Sonic and Tails heard clearly the words, "Egg Cannon ready--FIRE!" The lens flashed white. 

For a second there was a strange electronic hum in the air around them; then a laser beam the size of their biplane flashed by to their right, blinding them and scorching their fur. At the same time the plane shrieked and jolted sideways. "We're hit!" Tails wailed. Sonic's eyes flashed to the right wing--and was baffled to see that it wasn't there. The entire wing pair had been sheared off six inches from the side of the plane. 

The plane whirled in a circle and began dropping, spiraling faster and faster toward the ocean far below.


	14. Modern and ancient cities

Knuckles stood silently on a wide rock shelf that jutted out of the mountainside. Behind him was a little trolley on a pair of tracks that wound into a tunnel in the rock, bearing testament to how he had gotten there. Just ahead of him, at the edge of the cliff, was the top of a ladder. 

But the echidna's eyes were not on any of his immediate surroundings. They were focused on the landscape at the foot of the mountain, and partly inward, in his memory. The landscape was blanketed thickly with trees and brush, hiding the ground from view. But further out, perhaps a quarter of a mile from where he stood, the crown of an ancient pyramid poked above the trees. The 'Mystic Ruins'. 

As he had dismounted from the trolley, that same little pink light he had seen in the casino had appeared and circled him. A voice had come from it that said, "Use this statue with the pyramid you see there. The other is nearby. Hurry!" It vanished, and Knuckles had found a small statue at his feet. It was about a foot tall. It was a sculpture of an echidna in weathered silver on a square stone base, much like the Wind Stone in the windy cave. Had it been there before that light appeared? He wasn't sure ... 

Knuckles was now holding the statue in one hand, staring off over he valley, the wheels in his head turning. The dream of whatever it had been had taken place in the past, he was sure. The echidnas had been very numerous in their long-ago prime. There had been a brief period when their civilization had spread to the mainland, and the groups had been divided between the mainland and the island. That chieftain echidna had said, "It is our born right to access the Palace and all it contains. The guardians have no right to hoard it from us." Could he have witnessed the beginning of the civil war that had led to the hiding of the Palace and all those laws being made, most of which he still observed? 

And if so, could that pyramid he was looking at be the same one he had seen in his so-called dream? What did that pink light have to do with it? 

Too curious anymore to simply stand there, he slipped the statue into the bag he carried emeralds shards in, leaped off the ledge and glided smoothly out toward the pyramid. 

Looking down, he could see the glint of water beneath the tree canopy, and piles of rotting stonemasonry here and there. He passed over the ruins of a wall, then entered a large clearing that circled the foot of the pyramid. He circled once, then dropped to the grassy turf. He was struck instantly by the smell of warm earth and the chirping of crickets. He looked about. The jungle was held at bay by the crumbling wall, but already gaping holes had been torn in it--it was only a matter of time before the forest reclaimed this, as well. He gazed up at the pyramid, shading his eyes from the afternoon sun. It had to be the same one. It had the same sets of stairs running up the sides, the same carvings and statues of echidnas, although now faded and stained with age. He circled it slowly, looking for the entrance, then stopped in dismay. The entryway, a carved snake's jaws, was closed. The entire top section of the pyramid had collapsed in on itself, sealing the entrance forever. The top of the snake's head rested flat on the first tier, instead of looming above it. 

So what was the statue for? 

The echidna climbed the many stairs to the first level and slowly followed it around the circumference of the structure, gazing at the carvings of his ancestors and trying to decipher their meaning. Why had everyone vanished? He had never read of an actual battle; only impending disaster, then some vague event that was so terrible no one had ever named it. Perhaps now he would find out. 

He came to the western side of the pyramid and stopped. Here was something new. On either side of the staircase were two stone pedestals, one with a yellow echidna head etched on it, the other a white. Gold and silver. Before the pedestals were two square indentations, as if something fit in them. 

Understanding at once, Knuckles stepped up to the silver one, dug the leaves out of the niche and set the silver statue in place. It fit exactly. "There," he said aloud, placing his hands on his hips. "Now to find the gold statue." 

* * *

Sonic was falling--falling through empty space, unable to stop, unable to save himself. Then he was riding a bucking, jerking biplane through a sea of deadly missiles as a giant tornado gobbled up everything behind him. He looked back at it and saw Chaos' green eyes staring at him from the side of the twister. "He'll eat us!" Sonic was screaming. "Tails, fly faster! He'll eat us!" 

Sand. He was lying on sand. Someone was shaking him gently. "Are you okay?" He thought it was Tails' voice. Where was he? C'mon brain, wake up. "Tails?" he said groggily, lifting his head. Sand. Soft, powdery, damp sand. The beach. Emerald Coast. His eyes slowly focused. It was late afternoon. He was lying on the shore, just above the waterline. Hadn't he landed in the water? "Tails?" he said again, rolling over and sitting up. It wasn't Tails--it was a young human girl with large eyes staring at him through a pair of glasses. "Are you okay?" she asked again, seriously. 

The hedgehog looked around wildly. "You're not who I'm looking for. Have you seen a two-tailed fox around here? Maybe a red bi-plane?" 

The girl shook her head. "No ..." 

Sonic climbed to his feet, brushing sand from his fur. His shoes were soggy--he HAD been in the water. How had he gotten to shore? Where was Tails? "Tails!" he called frantically, looking around. "Oh, I hope he's all right ..." 

"I saw those dolphins push you ashore," the girl said soberly. "I thought you were dead." 

"Yeah, cool," Sonic said absently. "Thanks. I gotta go." He ran a few steps and stopped. Station Square was the other way. His head didn't feel right. Had the plane crashed? All he remembered was losing his grip on the plane's tail fin. Maybe he had fainted in mid-air, like they say people do. Where the heck was Tails? He had a sick feeling in his gut as he turned back toward Station Square. 

* * *

Amy Rose sat on a bench in the hotel's chao playroom, licking an ice cream cone and giving the chao in her lap bites. Birdie sat on the bench a few feet away, pecking at a bowl of bread crumbs and occasionally chirping his approval. 

Amy's chao was a light pink, and from its head protruded soft spine-like things that looked remarkably like her owner's hair. Amy had named her Rachel, after another girl the chao reminded her of. Now she pawed at Amy's dress and trilled for another bite. Amy held out the ice cream cone, and Rachel sliced off a bite with her sharp front teeth. "You're a little pig," Amy told her affectionately. 

Rachel had missed her something terrible. Amy had spent the previous day at the mall, and arrived back in Station Square three minutes after the chao playroom had closed for the night. Today, Rachel's feelings had been so hurt she wouldn't even look at Amy for at least ten minutes. She didn't forgive the hedgehog until Amy offered to share her ice cream, thereby winning the chao to her side once more. 

Another of the chao bounced up, sniffed at Birdy's bread crumbs, snorted and trotted away in disgust. Amy gazed after it oddly. It was a deep blue with long, hedgehog-like spines protruding from the back of its head. It looked like Sonic. 

Amy knew a thing or two about chao. If handled enough, they began to look like whomever took care of them. All the chao in the garden looked like someone, and you could tell immediately who each belonged to. But if this one looked like Sonic, that would mean it had been handled by him very recently. No other hedgehog on Mobius looked exactly like Sonic. 

The pink hedgehog's heart leaped. Sonic--here? Could it be? 

She was so ecstatic she gave the rest of her cone to Rachel and set her on the floor. The chao showed her teeth to two others to warn them away, then settled down to her treat with a happy purr. Amy patted her head, told her goodbye, picked up Birdie and his food, and skipped toward the elevators. 

She stepped out of the elevator in the lobby and dashed up to the manager's desk. "Excuse me," she said, standing on tiptoe to see over the edge of the desk, "Have you seen a blue hedgehog around here? A really CUTE hedgehog." 

The manager looked down at her and smiled knowingly. "As a matter of fact I have. He came in about ten minutes ago, and went out that door." He pointed to the doors that faced the casino. 

"Oh, thank you!" Amy exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "I can't believe I finally get to see him again!" 

She dashed for the doors, the green flicky in hot pursuit.


	15. You drive me crazy!

No one had seen Tails, no one had seen a red bi-plane. Sonic was half sick with worry. Where would he go if he made it ashore? What if was hurt? What if he hadn't ... hadn't survived the wreck? Sonic gulped down the boulder in his throat. Going to pieces in the middle of the street wouldn't help anybody. He had to keep his head. He wiped his eyes with the back of one hand and headed for the casino. Maybe Tails would go there. 

"Hey Sonic!" 

He stopped in his tracks. Suddenly all his worry was replaced with dread. He knew that high, insistent voice. "Please, not Amy," he prayed as he turned. 

It was Amy. 

She skipped up the pavement to him and stopped, puppyish adoration shining in her eyes. "Sonic!" she squealed. "Long time no see!" 

Sonic backed away a step. "A-Amy! Uh, hi." She had grown a lot since he had last seen her. She had lost the little kid look and was on her way to becoming a beautiful young hedgehog. She wasn't there yet, though, and her personality had not changed. And, he saw grimly, she still had a crush on him. 

"What's the matter with you?" Amy asked. She had expected him to be glad to see her, but he clearly was not. She held up a hand, and Birdie landed on it. "This little bird seems to be in trouble," Amy told her hero matter-of-factly. "So you can be his bodyguard for a while." 

"What!?" Sonic almost shouted, his spines stiffening on his back. He had a vision of carrying that bird around with Amy at his elbow. 'Hedgehog jumps off dock to escape girlfriend wannabe.' "No WAY!" he yelled, really yelling it this time. He didn't add that Amy had made his life miserable before and he didn't want it to happen again. He whirled and fled from her with all the speed he could muster. 

"Oh, don't run away!" Amy cried. "Ohhh!" She ran a few steps after him, but she was no match for a hedgehog who had spent his life pushing the sound barrier. He ducked into the hotel and vanished. Amy, with all the persistence of a starry-eyed hero worshiper, followed. 

* * *

Two hours later a weary, beaten Sonic slumped into a chair in the hotel lobby. Amy sat down beside him and swung her feet happily. Sonic had hidden from her all over the hotel, but was finally drawn out of hiding by aching hunger. He crept to the dining room and slouched in a back booth, which was where she found him. 

Too hungry to care, he wolfed his dinner, then grudgingly bought hers and waited for her while she ate. It was a date, to all appearances, if Sonic had not sat and stared at the world with the wild eyes of a caged animal. 

He still had this look as he sat in the lobby, but now it was tempered with a full stomach and resignation to his fate. Maybe she would go home if he told her to. He sideyed her and found her eyes fixed radiantly on his face. Maybe not. He really needed to get going and find Tails ... He opened his mouth to say so, when the hotel manager said, "You know, they're having a special for couples at Twinkle Park tonight." 

Sonic flashed him a look that could have incinerated him on the spot, and Amy leaped to her feet. "Oh goody! C'mon, Sonic! I've never been to Twinkle Park--it'll be dreamy!" 

Sonic climbed slowly to his feet, teeth clenched. He could blow up now and break her heart, or be a gentleman and go to the Park with her. He thought despairingly of Tails. Maybe the fox was looking for him, too, and they kept missing each other. He could leave a message with the manager. After all, he and Tails had planned to go to Twinkle Park, anyway. 

It took more maturity than Sonic thought he had to walk out the door and say (cordially!) to Amy, "I think Twinkle Park is open." She squealed and clapped her hands together in delight. 

The sky was awash with orange and red, and the streetlights were on as the hedgehogs crossed the Square and walked up to the entrance of Twinkle Park. Sonic looked at the elevator and glass tube that led into the main building, and was about to say something about whether they were going to a park or boarding a plane, when Amy pointed down the street. "Look, that robot is on the loose again!" 

Sonic turned and saw the garbage can with arms that had pursued Amy earlier. It was just turning the corner a block away and was proceeding slowly, as if looking for someone. "Zero," Sonic said, seeing the 0 on the thing's chest. "Don't worry about him--he's just a chunk of cheesy hardware." 

Amy grabbed the flicky off her shoulder and held him against her chest fearfully. Sonic could protect her from the robot, but he couldn't protect Birdie. She looked about for some place to hide, and noticed a sign next to the elevator doors. "Ooo!" she cried, "Look Sonic! Cute couples get in free!" Zero vanished from her mind at once. "C'mon!" 

"Amy!" Sonic called after her, but she was already in the elevator. "Oh, that girl is such a pain." He looked back toward Zero, but the robot had crossed the street and was rolling on toward the beach, not harming anyone. Growling in his throat, Sonic stalked into the lift. 

He caught up to Amy at the Park's inside entrance. She was waiting at a guard booth, talking to the guard, who was a teenage human girl. "See, there he is," Amy said as Sonic walked up. "Isn't he adorable?" 

"You two DO make a cute couple," the guard tittered. "Better hang on to him!" 

Sonic felt the heat creeping into his cheeks. Why did this stuff always happen to him? 

Amy took off her glove to have her hand stamped, and Sonic awkwardly did the same. "Have a nice date," the guard called as they walked into the lobby. 

"Hey, leave your glove off," Amy said, noticing Sonic starting to pull it back on. 

He looked at her sharply. "Why?" 

"I've never seen your hands before," Amy said, taking his hand in hers and turning it over. "Wouldn't it look good with a ring on this finger?" 

"I wonder what would happen if I slapped her," Sonic thought, knowing he was blushing again. He jerked his hand away and yanked his glove on. "Forget it," he said angrily. "I like my hands just the way they are, thank you very much. Now, where are we gonna go?" This would be a bad night--he just knew it. 

Amy, giggling to herself about how cute Sonic was when embarrassed, looked at the two doors, then at the map mounted between them. "Twinkle Circuit!" she announced. "We'll miss it if we go straight to Pleasure Castle." 

"Fine, lead the way," Sonic said, folding his arms. 

* * *

Twinkle Circuit began in a huge circular room where the multi-colored cars hummed about and bashed into each other. They all hovered about a foot off the ground and were padded on all sides; fancy bumper-cars. Amy took a pink car, and Sonic grabbed a light blue one, as the dark blue was taken. Then off the two roared onto the main floor. 

At first Sonic worried about Amy being jostled and hurt by the other drivers, and tried to stay near her. Then he was rammed by several cars at once and was flung spinning into the wall. As he backed out and turned around, yet another car hit him so hard he nearly flew from his seat. He glared about and saw with astonishment that it had been Amy who hit him. She whipped her car about and hummed off, laughing. 

Sonic fell into the light-hearted spirit of the thing after a few minutes, smashing himself into all comers and trying to nail Amy as squarely as she had hit him. At this he never quite succeeded. 

Unexpectedly a voice boomed over the loudspeakers, "All drivers ready for the Twinkle Circuit?" 

"Yes!" everyone yelled. 

"I thought this WAS the circuit," Sonic muttered. 

"On your marks, get set, GO!" 

The wall opposite the entrance grated and lifted into the ceiling, revealing a track beyond that curved into darkness. The gang of bumpercars revved their engines and made for it, jostling each other for position. 

Sonic found himself on a track that was lit only with rows of flashing lights in the center and sides, with a huge expanse of stars and galaxies glowing down on him. There was no time to look, however, for he was still fighting the other drivers for the lead. They had ceased to be people to him--they were now only hostile shapes to escape or ram. He floored the gas and hugged the left wall, driving like a maniac. Suddenly his car shot forward--he had passed over some sort of speed booster in the road. The others fell behind him at once. "All RIGHT!" Sonic yelled into space. 

Alone now, he had a chance to look about him. A spinning planet in its rings, a vast billboard advertising a videogame system, twinkling stars, spaceships, comets, asteroids--all flew by at dizzying speed, appearing just long enough for him to recognize their shapes. His car hummed smoothly, vibrating around him, gliding around turns like something alive. He began to feel euphoric, as if he were floating through space ... 

A very real thud and jolt returned him to his senses. 

"Hiya, Sonic!" a familiar female voice called. 

"Amy!" Sonic yelled back. "You scared me!" 

"Isn't this track great?" she replied, pulling her pink car up beside his. He heard the hyper enthusiasm in her voice. He wasn't the only one having fun. "What happens if you fall off the track?" 

"You wind up in the hospital," Sonic told her calmly. "Whoa!" 

The track dropped straight down ahead of them. Their cars sailed off, flew, floated through a mass of stars--what if they missed the track completely?--and struck the track with a gruntch of metal on cement. A ramp ahead. Sonic struck it and again left the track, pinned to his seat by the speed, nothing beneath him to land on. Falling, down, down--would he really end up in the hospital, or was he really in space? For one wild instant Sonic had a vision of falling forever and ever through nothing--then his car struck the track. A second later Amy's car came down behind him. 

"Was that freaky or what?" she yelled as she pulled up to him again. 

"You said it!" he gasped, trying to restart his heart again. 

More speed blocks. First Sonic shot ahead, then Amy. "I'll beat you!" he yelled, pulling abreast of her. 

"Oh no you won't!" she yelled back, and slammed her car sideways into his. 

"Hey!" he yelled, striking the wall and losing speed. "I'll get you, girl!" 

"Let's see you try!" she yelled from up ahead. He heard her car strike still more speed blocks, and struck them himself a second later. 

A sneak jump! He shot into the air, seeing nothing beyond the nose of his car but stars and galaxies. This time he fell but a short way before he was back on track. Lights! Color! People! He hit the brakes too late and slammed into the car stopped ahead of him. Amy's eyes glared back at him. He had finally got her back for that jolt she had given him back in the rink. 

He drew a deep breath and let it out. "What do we do now?" 

"I think we get out," she said, unbuckling herself. 

Sonic unstrapped himself as well and followed her in staggering onto the terminal. His sense of balance had been disrupted by that ride. It felt odd to move at a walking pace instead of dazzling speed. 

Before the two had recovered their senses, a string of rollercoaster cars whizzed into the other side of the terminal. "All aboard for Pleasure Castle," a loudspeaker crackled. 

"Oh boy!" Amy exclaimed, running to the first car. "C'mon, Sonic, get in here!" 

Sonic's respect of her had rises quite a bit, and he hardly had to swallow his pride at all to climb into the seat beside her and gaze out the darkened exit tunnel. 

They waited a good ten minutes as the other bumper-car drivers straggled into the terminal and boarded the rollercoaster. Finally, when all of them had been accounted for, an attendant walked by and clapped the safety bar over their laps, warned them to keep their hands and feet inside the car at all times, then retreated to the control booth. The cars jerked and rattled out of the terminal. 

Sonic had noticed that there were jet-like things on little wings attached to the sides of the cars, but had thought them for show only; after all, the whole chain was painted to look like a rocket ship. But now, as they exited the dark tunnel and saw the track dropping away before them, the jets ignited with a blue flash. The cars shot earthward at seventy miles an hour. A chorus of thrilled screams rose from the passengers, one of which came from Amy. Sonic clung to the lap bar and whooped at the top of his lungs, spines and ears blown back, body driven against the seat, stomach somewhere back in the station. The cars struck the bottom of the hill, curved up and shot around in a circle, rockets roaring. Sonic glimpsed castle turrets, spiked fences, grass and a pond, then they were hurled skyward again. For an instant Sonic looked at the stars, so close he could almost touch them, and realized he could see brush-strokes and lightbulbs in them. It was the ceiling. "They're faaaaaaake!" Sonic called to Amy, which lengthened into a yell as again they shot earthward. 

Suddenly the screech of the jets was gone, the track had leveled out, and they were gliding into the exit station. "Whew!" Amy gasped. "That was fun, Sonic!" 

"Yeah!" he agreed as attendants walked by and unlatched the safety bars. Amy's hair was frazzled and seemed blown away from her face permanently. He ran a hand through his own spines as they climbed from the cars--only standing up slightly. The windy cave must have been more violent than the rollercoaster. 

Amy's bird had rode the whole way in the pocket of her blouse. Now she took him out and set him on her shoulder. He wobbled back and forth a second and shook his head. Sonic grinned--poor thing wasn't used to amusement park rides. Perhaps it was the glaring lights, but Sonic also noticed something Amy hadn't--the bird was wearing a tiny locket and chain around its neck. 

He started to say something to her, but Amy darted off with a squeal. "Sonic, look at the games!" He followed her. 

They had entered Pleasure Castle, the carnival-area of Twinkle Park. Here abounded food, drink, people, games, small rides and dozens of other things. It was rather crowded--Sonic noticed most of the people were boy-girl pairs. He was part of a pair himself, he thought wryly. 

It appeared that cute couples didn't only get in free, they also had free run of all concessions. Sonic and Amy got free sodas and food this way. Sonic watched Amy wolf a box of cheese fries and wondered how she could eat like that so soon after dinner. Come to think of it, those fries smelled awfully good ... To his amazement, he found himself consuming a large box of fries a moment later. Having fun was hungry business. 

Amy wiped her hands and mouth on a napkin, threw her trash in a nearby bin, and looked brightly at Sonic. "What should we do now?" 

Sonic tossed a glance about the area. "Oh, I don't know. You pick." She wanted to come, let her navigate. 

The pink hedgehog looked around thoughtfully, lips pursed. "Let's see ..." Suddenly she gasped and her eyes widened. "Zero!" 

Sonic jumped up and whirled, searching. "Where?" Good grief, the robot was _right there_, perhaps ten feet away and rolling in their direction. "Run Amy!" Sonic commanded, and jumped in the robot's path. 

It looked down at this blue hedgehog with robotic disgust. Robotnik had never intended Zero to go up against Sonic, and so had neglected its anti-hedgehog programming. Zero had no idea who Sonic was. Its goal was to get the bird away from the girl. It swung a heavy arm and knocked the hedgehog out of its way, then rolled on, pursuing Amy. 

* * *

Tails was lost in the mist of a dream. He was four years old and Sonic was teaching him to run. "C'mon, you can do it!" a much younger Sonic was cheering. "You can do it! Spin your tails and run at the same time!" Tails tried, but the lift from his tails threw him flat on his face. Sonic helped him up. "You almost had it! One more time, then we'll go get lunch." 

The dream faded away, and the young fox found himself staring up at a clear, starry sky, surrounded by the friendly chirping of crickets. Still in the mood of his dream, Tails murmured, "I owe so much to Sonic." Where was Sonic, anyway? 

He sat up and saw the twisted wreckage of the red bi-plane, and suddenly remembered the crash. Abruptly his stomach twisted. He climbed to his feet and staggered to the plane's side. The wing pair on the right side was completely gone, cleanly as if cut with scissors. The remaining wings had been bent at an angle from the impact. The nose, engine housing and cockpit were twisted and smashed, fuel and oil dripping into the grass like the blood of a wounded animal. This plane would never fly again. 

But where was Sonic? 

Tails stood with a hand on the maimed machine's side and looked about him. The sun had set about an hour before, leaving only a soft greenish glow in the west. Outlined against the western sky was a building of some kind. What was it? Tails searched his memory. Oh yeah, the train station. He must be in the Mystic Ruins, in about the spot where Sonic and Knuckles had fought. But that didn't explain where Sonic was. If Sonic were here, he would have been nearby, asking it Tails were all right. What if Sonic were hurt, lying in the darkness somewhere? 

"Sonic!" Tails called into the peaceful night, a rock settling into his stomach. He dashed here and there over the uneven turf, calling, straining his eyes to see through the darkness. Crash victims could be thrown a long distance, he had heard. A dark shape lying in the grass. Tails touched it in cold terror, then relaxed--a rock. "Sonic!" he called again, a lump of tears forming in his throat. He sat down on the rock and cradled his head in his hands. Think straight, he told himself. You can't find Sonic if you keep running around in the dark like this. He might not be able to hear you. You're shaken up from the crash. Calm down. The fox drew several slow, deep breaths, calming himself. An idea popped into his head. A flashlight! 

Tails darted toward the train station, hung a left, climbed the stone stairs and reached the hanger and airstrip. The hanger was empty without the two planes. He hoped Mac wouldn't mind too much. He snatched up the powerful Mag-lite from its holder, clicked it on and pelted back down the stairs toward the bi-plane. 

Aided by the mag-lite, Tails searched the area with a fine-toothed comb, but found nothing. Sonic was not there. 

Tails walked slowly back to the hanger, head and tails drooping. Sonic must have bailed out before the crash. He could be anywhere, dead or alive. Tails put away the flashlight and stood a long moment in the dark, echoing hanger. What should he do now? The answer came from his growling stomach. Eat something. 

The solid reassurance of a bologna and cheese sandwich and carbonated orange juice revived his spirits and washed away the lump in his throat. As he ate he found his head clearing. Robotnik was four emeralds ahead, and there were three left. There was a good chance those emeralds were somewhere in the Mystic Ruins. If Tails found one, he could put it in the Tornado and resume his pursuit of the Egg Carrier. It was what Sonic would do. 

Feeling confident again, Tails shouldered the mag-lite and stepped out into the night. 

* * *

Sonic shook his head and stood up. "Yes, I'm okay!" he told the worried crowd gathered around him. "Somebody stop that robot! Robotnik sent it!" 

At this a stunned hush fell over the people, as everyone stared at the hedgehog. "Is that what that thing was that flew over today?" someone said. 

"Yes! The Egg Carrier!" Sonic said. "Get outta my way! I've got to make sure he doesn't hurt my friend!" 

Behind him they whispered, "Who's his friend? Tails the fox?" "No, I saw her--a girl hedgehog." "I didn't know he has a girlfriend!" 

Sonic bit back the hot words that rose to mind and fled out of earshot. 

* * *

Amy ran through Pleasure Castle, Birdie held tightly to her chest, his little heart beating frenziedly against her own. Zero had knocked Sonic said like he was made of straw and came straight for her. She could weave through the crowds and escape for a while, but she was sure the robot wouldn't give up so easily. How had it gotten into Twinkle Park in the first place? 

Birdie gave a strangled squeak, and Amy loosened her grip remorsefully. "Sorry, Birdie," she whispered. She slowed to a walk, panting, and gazed about her. She was in a sort of courtyard of grass adjacent to the back of the main castle. Off to her right was a sort of pond stocked with live fish, for those who wanted to try their hand at fishing. She didn't know that the previous day a large cat had fished there, but for a frog, not a fish. 

Amy stood where she was, mechanically stroking her flicky's head and breathing, "It's okay, I won't let him get you." The bird slowly calmed, and so did she. "I wonder where Sonic is," she wondered aloud, turning toward the castle. She was just in time to see a cylindrical shape with arms leap over the fence to the left, land with a muffled clang and race toward her, arms outstretched. She let out a shriek and ran blindly, terror overcoming her senses. 

The pink hedgehog's flight carried her around the pond in a circle, Zero gaining steadily. As she rounded it and ran back toward the castle, she saw several people walking out the back doors, laughing and chattering. She made for them as fast as her legs would carry her, ducked through the doors and slammed them behind her. 

There. Those were exit-only doors, and Zero couldn't follow her once they were shut. "Whew," she breathed, slumping against the wall and patting her hair down. "That was close, Birdy." The flicky turned his large, fearful eyes on her and said his first word. "Yes." She gazed at him in surprise. "You can talk?" "Yes," the bird chirped again. 

"What's your name?" 

The flicky struggled to put it into speech, but ended with a chirp. 

Amy sighed, "It must be tough having to learn a second language. C'mon, let see what's in here." 

She strolled down the dimly-lit hallway. The carpeting was a rich red, and swallowed the sound of her footsteps. The only light came from lit candelabra that jutted from the walls in places, and it was perfectly silent. "This is creepy," Amy whispered, half-expecting Zero to appear around the corner at any second. 

She stepped out of the hallway into a maze of mirrors. A thousand Amys stared back at her, all with mussed hair and pale, frightened faces. "Oh, these things are hard," the hedgehog said, placing the bird on her shoulder again. "You have to feel your way through. Maybe you can help me." She walked up to the mirrors, touching each. Sure enough, there was a passageway. She walked down it, found a glass wall instead of a mirror one, walked around it, turned several times, came to a dead end, doubled back, took another passage. 

Suddenly Birdy's claws dg into her shoulder, little body drawing up as skinny as a stick. "What?" Amy exclaimed, looking around. She gasped. Mirrored around her was the green-eyed reflection of Zero. Where was he? 

He moved, obviously seeing her as well. Amy whirled and ran, hands outstretched. Mirror wall, open to her left. She ran again, seeing the robot's reflection, but this time bigger. Wall left, all ahead, nothing right. It was like a nightmare. Amy could hear nothing above her own troubled breath and pounding feet, yet the image of Zero was everywhere. Was he behind her? Ahead of her? Confusion, fear, hateful solid mirrors, her own wide-eyed reflection staring back at her. Where, oh where did it end? Was she going in circles? 

A colossal smash somewhere behind her announced that Zero had pounced on a reflection. "Seven years bad luck," Amy panted with what humor she could muster. "Birdie, we're lost!" Her breath was beginning to catch in her throat. Humor aside, she would lose it completely if she didn't escape soon. 

A mirror gave under her touch. Thank heaven, an emergency exit. She burst through into the darkness of Twinkle Park, gasping, almost sobbing with relief. Forget about Sonic, she was getting out of there and going home. She plodded toward the park exit, too spent to run another step.


	16. Unexpected aid

Tails crunched down a jungle trail, flashlight sweeping from side to side. "Yeah right, like I'd just find an emerald laying in the middle of the road," he muttered to himself. The night was full of the chirping of crickets and other insects, and his feet trampled the underbrush with a loud, healthy crunching. 

Like Knuckles, Tails, had taken the trolley to the stone shelf in the jungle, but in the darkness could not see the pyramid. He did, however, see the ladder, which was how he reached the valley floor. Getting lost was the furthest thing from his mind, because all he must do was locate the high cliff and walk toward it. 

The young fox's thoughts roamed far and wide, from Sonic to Knothole to the Tornado to Chaos. He was not thinking about the jungle about him. So it was that when the beam of his mag-lite caught something moving, his heart leaped into his mouth and he stopped dead. Were there wild animals out here? Would it attack him? He stood for a long time, light pointed at the thing. A pair of red eyes glinted back at him, blinking in the beam. 

At last a familiar voice snapped, "Can you please point that somewhere else?" 

"Kn-Knuckles?" Tails stuttered, lowering the flashlight. 

"Aw, man," the echidna fussed off the in the darkness, "I can't see a thing now! Get over here and let me use your light. I can't do this in the dark." 

Tails advanced timidly. Knuckles was standing over a vegetation-covered hill with a hole dug in the top of it, earth dimming his silver shovel claws. "Point it where I'm digging," the echidna commanded. Tails did so. "Thanks, Tails." Knux plunged into the hole like a dog digging for a bone, claws flinging dirt between his legs, eyes determined. "What're you doing here, anyway? I thought you and Sonic were off irritating Eggman." 

Briefly the fox explained about being shot down, Sonic's disappearance, Tails' hunt for a chaos emerald. Knuckles listened, digging industriously, the hole rapidly deepening. "Sounds like you've had quite a day," he remarked as Tails finished, voice softening. "Tell you what. In exchange for the use of your light, I'll help you find a chaos emerald." 

"Cool," Tails said, perking up. "What're you doing out here anyway, digging?" 

"Looking for something," the echidna grunted. "In fact, I think I've got it." He clambered down into the hole and Tails held the light higher for him. Knux clawed, dug, yanked, dug some more, and finally lifted aloft a small statue of an echidna. He scraped the mud off it, and Tails saw the yellow gold glinting in the flashlight beam. "Treasure!" the fox gaped. "How'd you know it was there?" 

Knuckles gave him an odd look. "Um, somebody told me to look here." 

"Who?" 

"Oh, just somebody." 

Knuckles lifted his bag from where it lay in the grass and shoved the statue inside. "There," he said, dusting his hands off. "Now for your emerald. I saw one earlier, but I didn't touch it. C'mon." 

Tails trotted along at the echidna's side, glad for his solid companionship, holding the beam at the ground ahead of their feet. "What color was it?" 

"Purple, I think. It's not far." 

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Knuckles watched the forest about them for landmarks and nodding to himself. Finally the trail swerved off to the left. The echidna halted and pointed. Tails aimed his light in that direction and saw a glint of magenta. The emerald was lodged solidly in the fork of a tree--if not for its soft glow it would have been invisible. 

"There you go, kiddo," Knuckles said amiably. "Can you find your way back to the coast?" 

"I think so," Tails said. He pointed westward. "That way?" 

"Yep, you've got it. Well, I've got some stuff to do. I'll be seeing you." 

"Thanks, Knux," Tails called as the echidna walked away into the night. 

Now to get the emerald out of the tree. The fox spun his tails and jumped lightly up into the branches, set his light to point toward the emerald, and tried to lift the stone out. It wouldn't budge. On closer examination, Tails saw that the tree had actually grown over the edges of the emerald with time, sealing it tightly into the bark. He kicked his heels against the bark, chipping loose flakes, and tugged again. It still wouldn't budge. Tails looked around for Knuckles, thinking to call him back and ask him to use his claws, but the echidna was long gone. Tails would have to do it himself. He stamped on the emerald, jerked it back and forth, feeling the wood beginning to crack and give way. Certain he almost had it, he grasped it, set he feet against the branches, and pulled. 

With a snap the emerald broke free. Tails fell backward out of the tree, hit the ground with a thump, then was struck on the forehead by the falling stone. "Ow!" he yelped, holding his head. Presently the pain faded to a dull ache, and the fox shook his head and looked around for the emerald. It was lying on the path a few feet away. Tails pulled his mag-lite out of the tree and stooped to pick up his prize. 

To his surprise, something flashed under his hand and seized the purple gem--a large, golden-eyed frog. It looked at Tails for a second, then hopped away down the trail, gem in its mouth. "Hey, give that back!" Tails yelled, giving chase. 

* * *

Sonic stood on the pavement outside Twinkle Park, looking around at the streetlights and people milling about. Amy was nowhere to be seen. "Great, I've lost her, too," Sonic muttered. "I'll bet that robot hauled butt after her. What a night this has turned into." He was at once glad Amy was gone and unhappy, too. He was sick and tired of being razzed for a 'cute couple', but at the same time worried about her. He had had to save her from robots for years before she moved away. He would probably have to do it again. 

The blue hedgehog wandered down the sidewalk, his color blending with the darkness, wondering what he should do. He moved up to the tall building next door to Twinkle Park and gazed at the garage-type door. What was behind it? He looked at the access screen mounted on the wall beside it. Employees only. Access card required. "Probably some boring warehouse or something," Sonic thought to quell his curiosity. "I wonder if I could spot Zero from up above the street. He's about as big as a car." 

Bored, worried and tired, the hedgehog crossed the street and moped toward the hotel. Nothing had gone right today. The train went on strike, Knuckles made them lose their emeralds to Chaos, they lost the biplane to the Egg Carrier ... now he had lost Tails and Amy. Sure would be nice if he FOUND something for a change. 

Something chinked under his shoe. He looked down. A credit card? "Who would be stupid enough to lose a credit card?" Sonic thought as he picked it up. No, not a credit card--Employee card, Speed Highway, Mario Andretti. Well well, an access card to that weird building! 

The hedgehog raced back across the street and slid the card into the slot. The screen blinked, "ID recognized. Welcome." The large door slowly lifted into the ceiling, revealing a large, darkened room beyond. Sonic entered cautiously; what was here and what was it for? His shoes clanked on the metal floor. In the light from outside he saw a small control panel on the wall. Squinting, he approached it. It appeared to be elevator controls. Experimentally he pressed floor 9. 

He jumped as the door rolled shut again, shutting out the light. "Uh oh," Sonic said. "I've done it now." A whirring hiss of machinery starting up, and the floor jolted under him. He sensed he was moving upward. The entire thing was made for lifting vehicles far, far above the city's streets. 

A bewildered hedgehog arrived at the ninth floor and found himself stepping onto a paved highway suspended between the skyscrapers. The roar of traffic met his ears. He had entered Sapphire City's Speed Highway. 

Sonic broke into a glorious run. Oh, the joy of having an entire highway to himself! This was much better than building-hopping. Maybe he could spot Zero from way up here. 

Two onramps, four offramps and a cloverleaf later, the screech of sirens tore the air. Sonic looked back and saw his old friends the Speed Police were once again on his tail. What were they doing up here, where it was OKAY to speed? Well, he would lose them. 

He leaped from the road to a rooftop, scurried across it and leaped to the road on the other side, not daring to look at the ten or so stories that separated him from the ground. Several Speed Police motorcycles roared after him, jumping the gaps as easily as he had. Sonic ran for it, streaking along the highway, red sneakers a blur, eyes roaming the highway for somewhere to jump to. Ah ha, a high building rearing up on the right. Sonic leaped, whipped himself sideways in midair and shot along the front of the building horizontally, leaped from the edge, landed on an onramp and headed up it, putting a large chunk of space between himself and the police. 

For a while Sonic jogged along, the wind blowing his spines about. It smelled of exhaust and the ocean. Every so often he stopped, looked over the railing and scanned the traffic below for a robot, but without success. Even if he could spot Zero in all that, what could he do? Jump on him? He could try it once, and his remains would be strewn across the headlines the next morning. "Fantastic suicide attempt by unknown hedgehog!" Yeah, right. 

Suddenly he was almost run over by a Speed Police car. It had appeared out of nowhere, and was followed by a squadron of cars and motorcycles, a mass of red and blue flashing lights, megaphones commanding him to halt. "I'll never surrender, Overlanders!" Sonic shouted in rage, and fled away, once again the quarry. He would have to try something unthinkable to shake them this time. 

* * *

Knuckles climbed the steps to the pyramid, hands sweating through his gloves. This was it. Now he would see whatever it was that that light wanted him to see. Carefully he lifted the gold statue and set in in the slot. 

Something clicked in the stone beneath him--he felt it through his shoes. The statues were keys that activated ... something. 

The square space between the two statues lit with a crack, yellow lightning playing through the chinks between the bricks. The bricks and mortar crumbled before Knuckles's eyes, leaving a gaping hole in the tier before him. He walked to the edge and looked in. It looked like a mine shaft, dropping away into nothing. It could be a trap; he knew how crafty his ancestors had been. Then again, would that pink light have showed him this if it WERE a trap? After all, it WAS an entrance into the pyramid. 

The echidna drew a deep breath, swung in backwards, and began climbing down, metal claws grating on the stone bricks. 

A few yards down all light vanished, and he descended in pitch darkness, cautiously securing each fisthold before moving down to the next. The bricks were dry and cold to the touch, laid in even, geometric rows to form a nearly smooth wall. There was no sound other than what he made himself, from both above and below. "I'd be worried if there WAS a sound," Knuckles thought. What would he do when he reached the bottom? He wouldn't be able to see anything. He supposed he could feel if there WAS a bottom, then borrow Tails's flashlight or something. 

The air slowly became musty and damp, and wall slippery and beaded with moisture. The echidna began to slip, claws shrieking on the stone. He guessed he had descended several hundred feet--the top of the shaft was a dim grey dot high above him. How deep WAS this darn shaft? 

Abruptly the sounds he was making echoed, as if he had descended into a large room. Knuckles paused and listened. There was a hint of sound on the edge of his hearing ... like water running a great distance away. "Hello?" he said, and it reverberated back at him from the four walls. It was pitch black. Where was he? Should he go back? Maybe he should climb a little lower and feel for the floor. After all, he would feel pretty silly if he found he had chickened out two feet above the ground. 

He climbed a few fistholds lower, listening to the sound it made, feeling his way down. Suddenly there was no more wall below his feet. What? Empty space? He inched a bit lower, feeling the wall with his toes. The bricks ceased. He pawed at the smooth wall for a hold, but there was none. He was dangling by one fist. He tried to pull himself back up, to reach above the smooth area (probably ornamental tiling) to secure a better hold, but his claws couldn't support his weight long enough. They pulled loose, scraped across the wall, then nothing. He was falling. 

Splash. Knuckles hit the water and gasped in terror. Would he drown? He pulled himself upright in the water and felt his feet touch the bottom. It was only three feet deep. 

The echidna remembered reading a story once about some guy who fell down an eight-story well and was stuck there for a week, and ended up frost-bitten and hurt and other things. Maybe he would be stuck inside this pyramid for the rest of his life. Maybe he would die down here in the pitch dark. 

For a moment Knuckles stood in the water up to his chin, fighting paralyzing fear of the dark unknown. Slowly he calmed. This place had been built by echidnas. He would be able to find an exit. There was always an exit. He drew a deep breath and let it out. First things first. Get out of the water. 

He waded forward, hands extended. His ripples were obviously lapping some shore or bank nearby--he could hear it. The water's depth decreased. There-- a square edge, as if he were in a swimming pool. He climbed out. Cold stone floor. What in the world was this place? WAS it a swimming pool? 

Suddenly, all about him, torches blazed into life on the walls, filling the vast room with clear light. Blinking with surprise, Knuckles looked about. It was a huge square room, bordered on two sides with water. Everywhere he looked were doorways; in the wall, near the ceiling, scattered across the walls at varying heights. In the ceiling was a single dark ventilation shaft, probably the one he had fallen out of. Under his feet was an impressed turquoise panel that had activated the lights. It was the same technology used in the Sandopolis pyramid, and the secret of its operation was long lost. 

But which doorway led to the outside was a mystery. 

* * *

"Give that back, you stupid frog!" Tails yelled. He made a grab for its hind legs, but it jumped out of the way just in time. "Ribit," it commented, hopping toward a nearby stream. "Oh no you don't!" Tails snarled, thoroughly angry by this time. He spun his tails and activated his anklets. He shot over the frog's head, landed and pounced. 

The frog kicked and struggled, then did what all frogs do when picked up, but Tails knew all about catching frogs and how to hold them. "Give it back!" the fox growled, holding the amphibian under one arm and pulling at the stone in its mouth with the other. After a fierce tugging match, Tails won. He stood, panting, frog under one arm and chaos emerald in his hand. "Ribit," the frog said again. "Ribit yourself!" Tails snapped, still irked about the chase. "What would a frog want with a chaos emerald, anyway?" 

The fox walked back along the trail, retrieved his flashlight, and trained it on the frog. It was a bright green with a white belly, and had brown dots and stripes on its back. It also had a long tail with a knob on the end--rather un-froglike. "Weird!" Tails exclaimed, examining it. "You must not have lost your tail when you were a tadpole! Good thing I caught you before you got in the water. You're probably a great swimmer." The frog blinked its golden eyes. "Tell you what," Tails said, tossing the chaos emerald up and down idly, "I'll take you back to the hanger with me, put you in that old wire crate, then put it in the runoff from the hydroelectric generator. I'd like to show you to Sonic." 

Suddenly a small pink ball of light appeared out of nowhere, swooped around Tails' head, then buzzed right into his eyes. "Whoa! What's this?" the fox exclaimed. 

He blinked and looked around, startled. He was no longer in the Mystic Ruins. He was--he didn't know where he was. He was standing on a paved path leading toward a towering pyramid a short distance away. To the right and left were other stone structures screened discreetly by trees, and smoke rose from fires of some sort here and there. The sun was clear and bright. It was about 8:00 in the morning. 

Bewildered, Tails walked forward. The frog, the emerald and his light were all gone. How would he find them again? Had he been teleported? 

A voice murmuring caught his attention. Tails saw a young echidna girl standing under a tree nearby, a faraway look in her eyes. He moved closer. She was saying softly, "The servers are the seven chaos. The unifier is the one who controls the chaos. Chaos is power enriched by the heart." 

"Excuse me," Tails interrupted her, "but that's not what chaos is. Chaos is complete disorder." 

She turned and looked at him. "I know it is. That's why I'm trying to figure out this saying. My grandmother taught it to me, and I'm never to forget it." She paused and tilted her head to one side. "All I know is, the number seven is the same as the number of chaos emeralds there are." For an instant her face clouded, as if some dark thought crossed her mind. It vanished as quickly as it came, and she extended a hand to Tails. "Are you for the Guardians or the Mainlanders?" 

Tails stared at her. "Huh?" 

The echidna looked at him, then said understandingly, "You must be new here. I'm sorry. Do you have any special abilities?" 

Tails frowned. "What do you mean? I can fly." He demonstrated. 

She nodded, then said, "I was thinking more of fight moves. You see, our nation is about to ... to go into battle," she stumbled over the words, "and all males must have some method of attack." 

"Well," the fox said thoughtfully, "I can do this." He stepped back, then whirled about on his toes, tails cutting the air in a circle. 

"That's good!" the girl approved. "Can you do it longer? Spin, I mean?" 

"Nope," Tails said. "I get dizzy and fall down." 

"You would be more dangerous if you could spin longer," the echidna said thoughtfully. "You need to develop a rhythm to spin to, like how ceremonial dancers move to music. Let's see if you can beat one as you spin." 

Tails practiced for what seemed like hours, the echidna girl cheering him on. He had never thought much of his spin attack and had not developed it. But now, somehow, it seemed urgently important. 

Then he had it. A certain angle to lean into, a certain one-two tap of his toes, a certain tilt of his arms, and he found himself spinning for two, three minutes at a time without tiring. 

"You've got it!" his instructor cheered, clapping her hands. 

"I've got it!" Tails grinned. He spun in several circles, saying, "If I --knew a song--that fit this--beat I--could sing it!" 

"You sure could!" the echidna said. "Wait a minute." She dug into the pockets of her dress for a moment, and pulled out something and held it out to Tails. He took it. It was a small purple diamond shape with a blue rim, and attached to the bottom half were three short, curly feathers. It had a clip on the back, which the girl helped fasten to the fur on his chest. "This is a rhythm badge," she told him. "It's to remind you of your new move." Abruptly she gave him an odd look, then laughed. "I'm sorry! We've done all this, and I don't know your name. I'm Tikal." 

Suddenly she was gone, and the sunny morning with her, as if it had been a projected image someone had switched off. Tails was standing in the Mystic Ruins, a purple chaos emerald in one hand, a flashlight under one arm and a frog under the other. But it had not been a dream, for he was standing near the wrecked bi-plane within view of the ocean, while before he had been on the other side of the mountain. And clipped to his chest was the little purple badge. 

The fox blinked and looked around, confused. "Tikal?" he said into the night. "Where did you go?" 

"Ribit," said the frog under his arm. 

"Shut up," Tails replied. He turned in a circle, his light sweeping the area, but the girl was not there. 

Someone else was. 

"Hey! You've got my little buddy!" a low, slow voice called from down the hill. Tails turned and saw an enormous cat thundering toward him with a fishing pole in one hand. He looked as big as a charging elephant to Tails, who backed up and fell over a rock. The cat kept coming, getting larger by the second. Then he tripped and fell almost on top of Tails, who was too frightened to make a sound. Tails loosened his arm, freeing the frog, who, taking immediate advantage of this, gave a mighty leap, landed on the cat's head, leaped off and bounded away down the hill. 

The cat slowly sat up. He looked as if he were about to cry. "Aww, now what am I gonna do?" 

Tails sat up, fear ebbing. "You wanted the frog?" 

The cat nodded. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't know." 

"Didn't mean to scare you," the cat said, standing up. He was taller than all the humans in Sapphire City. "I'm Big. See you later." 

It took Tails a moment to realize that that was the cat's name, and not merely a statement of fact. By the time he made the connection, Big was already walking away down the hill. 

"I'm Tails! Bye!" Tails called. "Weird," he added under his breath. "What was I doing?" He looked down at the gem in his hand and remembered. "Oh yeah! I was gonna put this in the Tornado! Time for liftoff, yah-hoo!" He bolted for the hanger, waving his flashlight and emerald above his head crazily. 

One of the explorer humans looked out of his shack and saw the young fox tear by. He checked his watch. 2:00 AM. "Another of those loony Mobians," he muttered. 

* * *

The night grew old. Knuckles explored, Tails worked, and the stars began to dim above Speed Highway, where Sonic was tiring rapidly of the Speed Police's eternal pursuit. 

He had lost them for a while when the news came around to check him out, although he didn't know it at the time. All he knew was that the helicopter ahead of him was about to take off, and he could hitch a ride on one of the skids. 

Sonic had leaped and grabbed ahold of the retreating skid, then jeered triumphantly at the police cars as they screeched to a halt below him. He was lifted up, up into the night sky, the rotors a blurred, noisy circle above him. He had held on, looking down at the streets a mile below and knowing if he let go, that would be it. 

He became aware of voices in the chopper above him. He looked up and saw the side door was open and several humans and a camera were leaning out, looking down at him. He grinned at them and hollered, "Thanks for the lift!" Their faces registered shock an amazement. He returned his gaze to the cityscape below him. Ah ha, a rooftop coming at them, presumably to drop him off. In another second the cement expanse stretched below him. The hedgehog dropped, landed on his feet, ran and leaped off the edge, caught the edge of the nearby highway with his fingertips, scrambled up and was away. 

That had thrown the Speed Police for a couple hours. Sonic nearly forgot about them in that time as he amused himself with running through the vast city. But now, as the east began to brighten and the city's roar dropped to a sleepy murmur, Sonic turned back toward Station Square. He needed to rest for a while. 

The hedgehog had discovered a mounted rocket of some kind with a handle on it, and was looking it over when sirens split the air and four police cars bore down on him "The pest brigade is back," Sonic muttered. He was sick of them. He grabbed the rocket's handle and pulled it down. 

He was yanked off the highway and shot almost straight up, the rocket roaring above him. A tall building was fast approaching. Was it set for the roof of that sucker? Sonic didn't think he could hold on for that long--his fingers were being slowly dragged from the steel handle by the intense force. He couldn't breathe. Closer, closer-- 

Sonic lost his grip and curled into a ball almost at the same time. At his speed he wouldn't stop anytime soon. He shot toward the building--smashed through a window, rolled to a stop and lay stunned for a moment. 

After a moment he regathered his wits and sat up. He wasn't dead. He couldn't believe it. 

He seemed to be on some sort of an observation deck--there were huge glass windows on all four walls, and lots of telescopes and maps mounted here and there. 

Sonic stood and brushed bits of glass from his fur. Aside from a few small cuts on his right arm, he was unhurt. The window he had come through was in sorry shape, thought. Thoughtfully he laid a ten-dollar bill on a table--it wouldn't do much toward paying for it, but he only had twenty left--and walked toward the all-glass observation room. 

He pushed his way through the metal posts and cordons, thinking they simply blocked the room off during the night, and stepped into the glass room that overlooked the city. It was like a glass box stuck to the side of the building. The lights of the city below were like a multi-colored Christmas tree, blinking or flashing. Sonic looked down through the glass floor to the street below ... and saw the large cracks snaking away from his sneakers. 

He burst through the floor with a terrific crash and free-fell toward the street thirty stories below. 

Sonic's mind was blank the first few seconds--he was dropping like a ton of bricks, feet first. He tilted forward. His feet struck the building front, moved automatically--and just like that he was running straight down the skyscraper. His mind cleared. He was back in control. This might even be fun. 

Avoid the windowsills, dodge the powerlines, duck the helicopter hovering beside the building--what in the world is it doing, anyway?--everything a blur but the street below, growing bigger and more definite every second, cars moving, headlights--don't watch the street, stupid--the lobby coming up, weave through the decorative pillars, watch out, that one almost got you, glass skylight, feet first feet first! 

The speeding hedgehog smashed through three skylights in a row and hit the lobby floor in a roll, arms over his head. Glass fragments rained down, most from the skylights, others from the broken observation deck high above. For a moment it sounded like a heavy rain as they plinked and shattered on the hard tile floor. They slowed and ceased after a few moments. Sonic uncurled and opened his eyes. He had challenged a sky scraper and lived to tell about it. Jubilant, he sat up--and found himself facing three shocked humans behind the reception counter, all staring at him openmouthed. 

Sonic stood up, coolly dusted himself off, nodded to them and said, "The name's Bond. James Bond." Then he turned and strutted out the door. 

The sky brightened as he hiked back to Station Square, turning the scattered clouds orange and gold. He couldn't see the sun when it rose at his back, but he saw it touch the highest buildings with warm color. 

It was six o' clock by the time he reached Station Square. He had just enough energy left to check into the hotel, eat a weary breakfast and fall into bed. 

He missed the news broadcast of a blue hedgehog who had been seen travelling the Speed Highway without a vehicle (which was illegal), and who had actually hitched a ride on the Channel 6 helicopter. There was also a report of that same hedgehog wantonly destroying the lobby skylights of the Twin Seeds observation tower. 

"Oh, isn't he a dream!" Amy exclaimed, watching the television in her living room with eyes alight. "I have to find him today!" 

Someone else was also watching the newscast--a tall, red and white robot with an energy cannon for a right hand. 

E-102 Gamma had travelled and searched the coastline, but without success. No one had seen or heard of a tailed frog. If ever a robot could be discouraged, Gamma was. Rendezvous time was only a few hours off and he had turned up nothing. Master Robotnik would not be pleased. 

Gamma stopped and watched the morning news in a shop window, along with a few early-rising humans. He recognized the blue creature. It was in his databanks to hate and kill him on sight. But this conflicted ever so slightly with the mind of his pilot, who was curious about why it should want to kill this creature. 

"Them Mobians," a nearby human snorted at the newscast. "They're crazy." 

* * *

Knuckles sat despairingly in one of the doorways twenty feet above the floor. He had explored, walked and crawled all over this place, and every single passage circled back to the main room. The only way out he could see was the shaft in the ceiling--the only opening he couldn't reach. He was discouraged, tired and hungry. 

"Whatever that darn light wanted me to see," the echidna said aloud to the four walls, "I guess this room is it. Now I've seen it and I want out." 

As if in response, that same pink ball of light appeared out of nowhere, circled his head, then shot down to floor level and into one of the doorways. Startled and relieved at the same time, Knuckles slid to the floor and followed it. It was waiting for him just inside the doorway, and again streaked away as he approached. 

It led him a merry chase along the same passages he had seen before, then showed him a trick wall, a flight of stairs leading down, a maze of passages, and finally into a long, high room. It flew to the end of the room and waited for him, but Knuckles took his time. The path lay between two pools of water, flanked with carved pillars. Each pillar was set with gold, silver and jewels, and all were different. Some were engraved with snakes, lizards and evil demonic faces--others were life-like figures of echidnas that stared at him from the past with eyes of obsidian. Still others were non-echidna people, some of extinct species, that Knuckles knew must have befriended or helped the echidna clan in some way. 

Slowly he approached the waiting light, gazing at the pillars in wonder. Was this what it had wanted him to see, this shrine or temple or whatever it was? He looked at the light, then up at the wall. A mural. 

The lone echidna suddenly found himself face to face with the reason his ancestors vanished. 

A second later the light flew into his face and blinded him. He stood quietly, knowing what was happening. He was going to see something weird. 

Sure enough, suddenly he was standing on a rocky hill under open sky. "Man, wish I could take notes on this," he muttered as he looked about. With a start he realized where he was. He was standing in the Marble Gardens, and only a few hundred feet away was the shrine where the remains of the Master emerald was located. But this was obviously not his time--the shrine was intact, seven obelisks surrounding it at a distance, the fountain full and flowing. He moved closer. 

Poised on top of each obelisk were the chaos emeralds, shining in the sun. On top of the pyramid/shrine, under the intact canopy, was the Master emerald. He squinted. Standing near it was the same girl--Tikal--that he had seen before. He crept up on tiptoe to see what she was doing. 

Knuckles had not been inside the Sunset Resort's chao garden, but he had seen pictures of chao and knew what they were. About forty of them were clustered about Tikal's feet, all gazing up at her. She was saying to them, "I've tried everything, but my father won't listen. His heart is hard--he thinks of nothing but power. Oh, you have to do something!" Here she seemed to be addressing the Master emeralds itself, as if it could hear her. Knuckles watched her closely. She seemed to be waiting for an answer. Finally she sighed and said, "You can't leave here. If only--if only I could take the emeralds myself--" 

At that there came a strange sound, as if the water in the fountain had growled in disapproval. Tikal shrank together and appeared frightened. "I'm sorry!" she said to the water. "I meant to hide them where my father could not find them, but I can't even do that." She looked down at the anxious chao and said, "Don't worry my little friends--I'll find some way to fix this." She walked down the pyramid steps, murmuring, "I must do something ..." 

Knuckles blinked and looked about. That morning had been replaced with the one of his time. It was quite early--the sun had barely peered above the eastern mountains. He was standing at the foot of the shrine, the broken Master emerald at the top. He was out of the pyramid. "I'm back," he said, not quite believing it. Under his arm was his bag of emerald shards--he distinctly remembered leaving them outside the pyramid. This was getting quite freaky. 

He climbed the pyramid steps thoughtfully. That mural had been a real eye-opener, and so had that vision or timewarp or whatever it had been. So Tikal had tried to keep the disaster from happening. Why had she spoken to the Master emerald? It was a non-sentient power gem, manufactured in the distant past. It responded to basic commands, like a computer, and acted as a power hub to the Floating Island's teleporters. If the thing could think and communicate he would have discovered it ages ago. Maybe Tikal had not been familiar with it. After all, she wasn't the guardian. 

The echidna stepped onto the platform on top of the pyramid and saw someone in a sleeping bag curled against the base of the fractured emerald. He grinned and knelt beside the figure. "Talon, what are you doing out here?" 

The anteater rolled over and looked up sleepily. His fur was a mouse brown, but his eyes were encircled with white, and a black stripe ran down between them to the tip of his nose. "Hi, Knux," the youngster said. "I wanted to be sure I caught you before you left again." He sat up and yawned. 

"You little creep," Knuckles said affectionately. He liked this kid a lot. He stood, opened his bag and turned it upside down over the Master emerald. The four fragments clinked out and fused into the stone. To Knuckles' surprise, there was a lot more of it there than he had thought. Only perhaps two large pieces were missing. 

Talon stood up and smiled shyly. "The Chaotix and me found a couple pieces laying around here and put them back. Hope you don't mind." 

"Mind?" Knuckles said roughly, grabbing the anteater in a headlock and giving him an indian burn, "of course I don't mind!" Talon struggled, laughing breathlessly, and Knuckles let him go. 

"Seriously though," Talon said, "I wanted to give you these before you left." He turned away, dug around in his sleeping bag, and produced a pair of yellow gloves. Knuckles looked at them closely as Talon explained, "They're fighting gloves, real leather. We put our money together to get them for you. Nice metal knuckles, by the way." 

Knuckles slid off his shovel claws and gloves and pulled on the new pair. They were much thicker than his old ones, but soft and flexible. He strapped his shovel claws on over them and took a few practice air swings. "Hey Tal, stand still for a minute." 

"Drop dead, sir," Talon grinned, backing away. 

Knuckles advanced in mock ferocity. "If you don't want your face pounded in, I suggest you get me something to eat. I haven't had anything since breakfast yesterday." 

Talon's eyes widened in instant seriousness. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't know that. I'll be right back." He dashed away down the stairs. 

Knuckles gazed after him, grinning. Talon idolized him, perhaps even looking to him as a father, as his own had died tragically several years earlier. He was a good kid. 

Knuckles sat down and gazed glumly at the Master emerald. Now that he was alone his previous, melancholy thoughts returned. With his luck, those missing pieces were somewhere in the bottom of the ocean.


	17. Kidnapping

Amy strolled along the street into Station Square, eyes roaming the area for a blue hedgehog. Her flicky sat on her head, feathers fluffed against the cool morning air. She reached up and patted him. "We'll find Sonic and hang out with him today. How's that sound?" Birdy said nothing, and Amy smiled to herself at the thought. Sonic on Speed Highway! How brave of him! She would have been frightened to death. 

The pink hedgehog stood near the pier for a moment, gazing out at the tranquil blue ocean. Far, far out, along the horizon, was a dim blue line she knew was the breakwater that helped form the bay. "Hey Birdy, why are seagulls called seagulls?" Amy asked. Birdy shrugged his wings and chirped he didn't know. "Because if they flew over a bay, they'd be called bagels." Amy laughed at her own joke, then turned toward the Sunset hotel. 

A shadow fell over them. Amy glanced about, then looked up--and scrambled backward with a shriek as Zero hit the pavement where she had been standing. Before she could so much as take a step, one of the robot's huge hands closed around her and lifted her off her feet. The other hand grasped the flicky. Amy screamed in terror, but it was one of those intervals when the street was completely empty. Not even Metal Sonic could have planned a better time for a kidnapping. 

The big robot rolled up the train station's steps, burst through the doors, jumped up the stairway to the train platform, and rolled down the tracks into the glass tunnel that led toward the Mystic Ruins. Amy struggled helplessly--her arms were pinned--and happened to glance down at the street. "Sonic!" she screamed. 

The blue hedgehog jumped and looked around wildly. "Sonic, help me!" Amy shrieked again. There, he had seen her at last. She caught a glimpse of him running toward the station, then the buildings blocked her view. 

Sonic tore into the station, heart thundering in his chest. He raced up to the ticket booth and asked the guard, "Are any trains running today?" 

"Yes, the strike ended this morning," the guard replied. "A train is due in five minutes." 

"I can't wait that long!" Sonic exclaimed. "See ya!" He dashed for the tracks. If Zero could get through, then so could he. 

* * *

Five minutes later, the train pulled in and the doors opened. A large green frog hopped out with a plop, gave a croak and hopped down the stairs, out the station doors and out toward the beach. 

A moment later a large purple cat disembarked, looked about despairingly, shouldered his fishing pole and walked out into the Square. 

* * *

Sonic pelted along the train tracks. They were remarkably hard to run on, but in many places it was either them or lose ground finding a way around impassable terrain. Zero had set his wheels to the tracks somehow and had zipped ahead at eighty miles an hour, while Sonic was limited to a measly sixty-five to avoid wrecking his ankles. Why oh why was this the first thing that had to happen this morning? He had awakened feeling hung-over from eating too heavily right before bed, and so had eaten nothing when he got up. Now here he was, an hour later, wide awake and with nothing inside him. Curse that Amy, she was always getting into trouble. Let Robotnik robotize her for all he cared. No, no, he took that back. He DID care about what happened to that silly girl and her silly bird. He wouldn't be here, risking his neck to run along the treacherous railroad ties, if he didn't. 

Panting and limping on a twisted ankle, Sonic arrived in the Mystic Ruins. He sensed something above him and looked up to see the Egg Carrier's monstrous underbelly hanging quietly in the air. Oh great. Oh great. Sonic dashed for the station platform and looked toward the ground below. Zero was rolling slowly up the hill, still carrying Amy and her bird. "Hold it right there, bolt bucket!" Sonic yelled. 

The black and green garbage can turned and looked up at Sonic scornfully. "Sonic!" Amy cried. She was sobbing with fear and stress, tears streaking her face. 

"Let her go!" Sonic commanded, vaulting from the platform and stalking toward the robot. 

A turquoise beam appeared around Zero and lifted him in the air toward the distant Egg Carrier. Sonic jumped for his feet and missed, landing on his hands and knees inside the beam. 

"Sonic, help me!" came Amy's tearful voice once more--then she and the robot were gone and the beam switched off. 

"No! Stop!" Sonic hollered futilely. "Oh man, oh man ..." 

The Egg Carrier turned and began to drift off in a southerly direction. Sonic watched it a moment, paralyzed with indecision. He could looked around for Tails--but if he did, he'd lose sight of the Carrier. 

With a gulp Sonic headed after the steel cloud. He hoped it was the right choice, and forced himself not to dwell on the image in his mind of an orange-furred body lying motionless in the grass. 

* * *

E-102 Gamma strode into the Station Square hotel and walked up to the manager. "Good day," he said in his electronic monotone. "Have you seen a large, tailed frog recently?" 

After looking the robot up and down, the manager decided not to ask questions. "I think so, sir. A large frog went toward the beach about twenty minutes ago." 

"Affirmative," Gamma replied. "Thank you." He turned and clanked toward the doors that opened on the beach. 

The big robot stepped onto the deck that surrounded the swimming pool and was instantly the center of attention as all the early swimmers stared at him. "Greetings," he said to them. Have any of you seen a large frog recently?" 

After a short silence, a human girl floating on a raft in the pool said, "You're the second person today to ask about that frog. It went hopping by here a little bit ago--it went thataway." She pointed toward the beach. 

"Affirmative, thank you," Gamma said, and strode toward the beach. 

Behind him, the girl tittered to her sister, "He walks like a chicken! What a funny looking machine!" 

Gamma's visual sensors swept the beach. A few humans here and there, but no frog. He walked toward the water to gain the support of the hard sand, then walked along, scans sweeping from side to side. There were lots of waterlogged boards on the sand, and further out, the boardwalk over the water stood here and there in fragments, wood floating beneath the existing sections, as if a tidal wave had hit. Sitting alone at the end of the broken pier was a cat with a fishing pole. Gamma stepped onto the pier and watched the cat cautiously for a moment. He had never seen a creature sit so still for so long. 

Suddenly the cat jerked his rod, lowered it and began reeling something in. Gamma stood silently and watched as the cat let out line, reeled it in, let it out, reeled in more. Presently he reached down into the water and lifted--a tailed frog! Gamma's video sensors zoomed in on it, at the same time comparing it to the picture Master Robotnik had displayed. A perfect match! This must be the frog he was searching for! 

Big removed the hook from the exhausted frog's mouth and hugged him. "Oh Froggy, I found you!" he crowed, then laughed out loud. He had finally caught his straying friend. "Now I'll take you home where you can get all better again." 

Gamma's approach to the situation was simple. He walked up to the cat, took the frog out of his hands, and walked back up the beach toward the hotel. 

"Hey!" Big cried. "Give my froggy friend back!" When the robot did not listen, Big gave chase. "Please, give him back, I'm beggin' ya!" 

The two vanished in the direction of the train station. 

* * *

Tails was slumped against the nose of the Tornado, a wrench held limply in one hand, sound asleep. He didn't hear the hanger door slam, or the tramp of heavy boots. A rough hand shook his shoulder. "Hey kid ..." 

"Okay Sonic, I'm coming," the fox mumbled. 

"Hey kid, wake up," the voice said again. 

Tails' half-focused eyes opened. He blinked and sat up. It wasn't Sonic, it was Mac, owner of the airstrip. 

The fox straightened with a jerk. "Oh man, I didn't mean to fall asleep! Look, I'm sorry about the other two planes, but one got shot down by the Egg Carrier and the other one's engine blew up--" 

"It's okay, calm down," the human said amiably. "Those planes were hunks of junk anyway. That you flew them at all is a surprise." 

Tails stood up and stretched. "So you're not mad?" 

"Naw." Mac strode across the empty hanger and slung his duffelbag in the corner. "Sure is good to be back. My sister's kids all need a good hiding. I was about to go crazy." He paused and looked at Tails. "Is the Egg Carrier that thing that flew over the city yesterday?" 

"Yeah," Tails replied, tightening the bolts that held in the chaos emerald and converter. "I was going after it again as soon as I finished." 

Mac watched Tails out of the corner of his eye as he filled the coffeepot in the corner. The fox was working busily, now tightening bolts with a power drill, now welding something into place, watching from behind the protective dark mask. The kid had been going at it hard all night; Mac could tell by the rings around his eyes. Tails was in no condition to be flying. "Could I talk you into knocking off work and getting some rest?" Mac asked. 

"Nope," Tails replied without turning. "I just had some sleep, and I need to catch that ship before it's too late." 

A few minutes later Mac brought Tails a chipped mug of steaming black coffee. "Drink this, then," he said, sipping one himself. "You'll need to be awake." 

Tails took a drink and gasped. "Gosh, that'll put hair on your chest!" 

"Strong enough to lift a safe," Mac grinned. "Drink up. I have to tell you something after you finish." 

Tails gulped the coffee, feeling its searing heat warm him to the core. Mac opened a paper sack he had brought in, and handed out donuts. Between the coffee and the donuts, Tails felt wider awake than ever, and ready for action. "What'd you want to tell me?" he asked, setting down his still-warm cup and licking his fingers. 

"The Egg Carrier flew over about twenty minutes ago," Mac said. 

Tails shot to his feet. "Ohmigosh, why didn't you say so? I gotta get moving!" 

"That's why I didn't," Mac said calmly, sipping his coffee. "It went southeast." 

Tails flung the tarp off the Tornado, kicked the blocks from under its wheels and jumped into the cockpit. "Good luck, kid," Mac called as Tails taxied for the automatic hanger doors. "Kick Robotnik's tail for me!" 

Tails gave him a thumbs up and headed for the wild blue yonder.


	18. Trailing the Egg Carrier

Knuckles sat in the sun next to his broken emerald. He had eaten like a famine victim, tried out his new gloves, and had returned to the Master emerald. Talon had sensed that he wanted to be alone and had prudently departed. 

Where were the missing pieces? It was the foremost thing on the echidna's mind. Behind it seethed questions and thoughts about Sonic, Tails, Chaos, Tikal, the Floating Island, Chaos, the Mystic Ruins, his ancestors, and Chaos. 

He stood, leaned his elbows on the Master emerald's edge and gazed into its green depths. His troubled breath clouded the cool polished surface. From inside this thing, somehow, Chaos had come ... perhaps from another dimension through which the emerald was the only exit. If he repaired it, would Chaos be put back in? 

With a sick feeling in his stomach, Knuckles realized that the Master emerald would never be whole--it was missing the pointed tip which Robotnik had sawed off years ago. It had been lost when the Death Egg went down. Perhaps it set in motion a slow process that eventually gave Chaos a means of escape. If so, even if they managed to put him back inside, he would break out again in a few years ... 

"Where ARE the missing pieces?" Knuckles sighed. 

Something changed within the green stone. The light concentrated on a few areas, a few dark patches appeared ... and Knuckles found himself looking at a picture of the Egg Carrier. He stared in astonishment, then laughed out loud. Of course! The emerald would know where its pieces were. He could have asked it to display their locations long ago and saved himself the trouble of searching. Hopefully, he added, "Where is the missing piece Robotnik took?" The image of the Egg Carrier faded, but nothing else happened. Knuckles drooped a little. Not even the emerald knew where it was. It must have been destroyed. 

Well then, he must find the Egg Carrier and get the missing pieces. But how was he to find, much less board, the Egg Carrier? 

As he stood there pondering this and wondering how Sonic always managed to reach difficult places like he did, a distant clang drew his attention. Striding along the cliffline adjacent to the island was a red and white robot with something in its hands. "Bingo," Knuckles muttered. "This is a little too convenient--I'd better be careful." He headed for the rope bridge he had set up earlier to link the island with the mainland. 

* * *

Gamma was confused, spooked and making for the docking bay as fast as his legs could take him. As he had disembarked from the train in Mystic Ruins, a bright reddish light had overwhelmed his video sensors. When it cleared and his sensors had readjusted, he found himself standing on a low hill, looking toward a shrine-like structure in the distance. 

"Searching for location," his computer had said. His video sensors focused on a distant mountain, the placement of the sun, and the strange structure. "No data found," his computer had said. "Location unknown." Gamma stood still for a moment as the implications of this worked through his brain. "This presents a problem." 

Mindlessly the robot strode toward the shrine. Perhaps he hoped to find something that his databanks would recognize. He had no reason--he simply moved. His feet clanked on the cobblestone path, announcing his presence to the entire area. 

As he neared the foot of the shrine, his audio sensors detected a sound--several dozen small creatures singing in harmony. He slowed and looked about for the source of the sound. Chao. A crowd of little blue creatures stood on the pyramid steps, one seeming to lead, the others following. Innocent and harmless, they did not notice the hulking robot watching them. 

Gamma knew what they were. His databanks listed no record, but the memory of the creature in his hull was alive and active. Chao. He had seen them before. 

He made as though to move forward, but a voice called suddenly, "Stop! Don't go any closer!" Obediently he stopped and swivelled his head around to see who was talking. A young female echidna was hurrying up. She wore strange clothing and a blue gem in her hair. She looked up at the robot fearlessly, then at the chao. "I'm sorry, I guess you're not one of them," she said. "You're not a chao inside. But that's okay." She clasped her hands behind her back and watched the singing chao. "Do you see the presence guarding these little ones?" As she spoke, the water in the fountain's pool rippled, although nothing visible had disturbed it. Gamma's video sensors fixed on it. "He is a gentle and loving creature," the echidna went on softly. "Even I was startled the first time I saw him. But without his protection, these chao would be unable to sing in peace. My father wants to take their home and its contents for himself. He wants to be the Guardian of this island, and he is willing to fight a war to get it. I have spoken to him, but his heart is hardened toward us all. I only hope that someday I will be able to understand him." Her voice had taken on a sad note. 

Then Gamma had found himself back on the train platform, the frog still in his hands. What had happened? The whole thing was fresh in his memory banks, but--had it really happened? It was so illogical, so unlike anything the robot had ever experienced in his short life, that he bolted from the platform and hightailed it for the Egg Carrier. His robot system was unable to feel fear, but the creature in his hull was terrified. 

* * *

A jet of flame and sulphur burst from the rocks and roared into the blue sky. Sonic fell back against the rough cliff face and shielded his face from the heat. A moment later its ferocity abated, the jet shrinking back into the crack in the rocks. Sonic inched around it and scrambled away. 

"Red Mountain, five thousand feet. Warning--seismic activity," the sign had said. Sonic had paused to read it, then gazed anxiously at the Egg Carrier. It would fly quite close to the top of the highest peak. If he could get there first, he might be able to hitch a ride somehow. 

If he could get there first. 

Sonic vaulted over the fence, shuddering at the barbed wire as it touched his hands. As long as he lived he would never be able to stand barbed wire, having been seriously injured in it once. "Seismic activity," he scoffed to himself. "This is the bottom of Windy Valley. How bad could it be?" 

Bad, he had discovered. The entire area was active volcanically, spewing lava from great vents in the hillside, pouring gas from fissures in the earth. Cinder cones stood here and there, some trailing black smoke in the air. A path had once wound its way up the mountainside, but it had not been maintained in a long while. In some places it had been buried under lava floes, still warm to the touch. In others it had simply crumbled off the side of the mountain. Sonic was hard pressed to make any sort of progress upward, let alone keep up with the Egg Carrier. 

The sun climbed into the sky. Sonic struggled and panted and tried to avoid treacherous steam vents that appeared under his sneakers, but was not always successful. Once he was blasted from thirty feet by accidently stepping in one. He was frightened, but unhurt. 

Fire, smoke, ashy ground that gave beneath his feet, gas, steam, intense heat. The one cold thing Sonic discovered was a pool of water created by runoff from a steam vent. It tasted strongly of rotten eggs, but Sonic was so thirsty he didn't care. "I could use the sulphur in my diet, anyway," he thought wryly. 

At last his stumbling feet gained the summit of the mountain. He shaded his eyes and looked around. Down below, on the east side of the mountain, was the caldera, working alive with lava and clouding the air with steam. In the west was the distant ocean, a low cloudbank forming on the horizon. "Rain," Sonic thought subconsciously. But in the south, the sky was empty. 

He looked about wildly, spinning in all directions. The Egg Carrier was gone. He had missed it. 

* * *

"Ah-ha," Knuckles muttered, watching E-102 from behind a screen or philodendron. "You led me right back to your nest, Eggman." 

The valley of the Mystic Ruins ended sharply in a sheer cliff on its eastern side, dropping away for a hundred feet into a still deeper valley clothed thickly in jungle growth. Extended to the top of the cliff was a glass tunnel, like the one used for entering Twinkle Park. It led downward to ... something ... obscured by the trees. A city--out here? It couldn't be a city. There were no roads. It must be a base of some kind. 

E-102 walked straight up to the entrance of the glass tube. It opened, and the robot strode in. 

The echidna slunk out of hiding, cast a wary glance about the area, then slipped up to the doors. They opened automatically, and Knuckles leaped inside as if scoring a touchdown. "Ha," he breathed, then stalked down the glass tube after the robot. Behind him, the door opened and shut again as a large cat entered. He, too, had a reason for trailing the robot. 

E-102 Gamma unwittingly led the two into the Final Egg ground base, through it and into the Egg Carrier loading bay. Knuckles looked up at the monstrous ship for a second before sneaking aboard. It would have complimented the Death Egg immensely. It was about one-third of the size of the Death Egg, and probably packed about the same firepower, or he didn't know Robotnik. He had better be careful once on board--Metal Sonic or Robo Knuckles might be aboard, and neither liked him much. 

He was hidden securely among the crates in the cargo hold when Big the cat climbed aboard. Knuckles stared as the cat fearlessly advanced to the exit stairs and climbed them. Who was THAT? He must be working for Robotnik or he wouldn't dare go up there. Knuckles stroked his shovel claws and felt the vibration of the monstrous engines as they warmed up. He would have a bit of exercise once this monster took off. 

* * *

The Egg Carrier's jets lifted its nose off the ground first, then its midsection and tail. Slowly it rose into view from behind the trees, the wind from its jets tossing them about frantically. Birds scattered for cover as the hulking ship rose into the air. Once it had enough altitude, the giant thrust rockets in the tail fired up, and the battleship moved forward and up into the late morning sky.


	19. Surprises

Sonic, standing forlornly on the top ridge of the volcano, saw the Egg Carrier in the distance, flying westward, toward the sea. "Ooo, what I wouldn't give to have the Tornado about now," the hedgehog moaned, thinking of the neat little bi-plane in the junkyard in Knothole. He and Tails could both fly it--it was Sonic's plane, after all, and he used to bestow upon it the affection some men give boats. If only he had been wrong and it COULD fly again ... 

As he stood, watching the hazily distant ship and wondering if he could make it to the bottom of Red Mountain alive, a small sound made itself known behind him--the friendly hum of a distant plane. He had heard so many planes fly over during his stay in Sapphire City he didn't notice it at first. But it grew louder and louder, as if the pilot were flying hazardously low. Sonic turned with a concerned frown and saw the blue and orange biplane flaying almost on level with him. The pilot waved to him wildly. Sonic waved back cautiously, wondering who that nut was. Then he caught sight of the orange fur and remembered that the Tornado was no longer red--Tails had repainted it blue and orange to represent their combined colors. "Tails!" Sonic yelled in exhilarated relief. 

The plane flew by, circled and dropped a wing. Sonic ran forward, leaped and landed on the wing. "Tails! You're okay!" he yelled over the noise of the engine, looking back at the fox whom he had missed so much. 

"Ditto!" Tails called back, grinning hugely. "Geddown, you big galoot! I can't fly with you up there!" 

"Where am I SUPPOSED to sit?" 

"On the tail, dummy! I've got a seat built there for you!" 

Sonic climbed from the wing, stepped into the cockpit and back onto the tail, where sure enough, there was a thing like a metal saddle. He sat in it and found a pair of metal loops on either side his feet could fit through. "Much better than that other plane!" Sonic shouted forward against the wind. 

"Count on it!" Tails hollered back. "You can't believe the weapons I've got on this baby! In the meantime, hang on!" The fox opened the throttle, and the biplane leaped ahead like a wild horse given its head. "We've got a ship to catch!" 

* * *

E-102 Gamma, still shaken by his 'vision', was the last of the four robots to arrive in the main hall. Delta, Zeta and Epsilon were standing in a row as they had for their briefing. Dr. Robotnik stood on the raised platform, and Metal Sonic stood behind him like a little dark shadow. 

"My frog is the right one!" Zeta proclaimed proudly. 

"No, mine is!" Delta contradicted. 

Gamma strode up and took his place meekly at the end of the line, Froggy lying limply in his one hand. What if this wasn't the right frog after all? The others each had a frog in their hands. Perhaps he had scanned the image incorrectly. 

Robotnik stepped down from his platform, and he was not pleased. "Dummies dummies dummies!" he roared. "None of you have the right frog! We must find the frog with Chaos's tail!" Furious, he stamped down the line of robots, finally coming to a halt before Gamma, whose frog he had not yet examined. He glanced at it, then looked again. "There it is," he said, pointing, "right there! I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Gamma!" He took Froggy from the robot's hand and stroked it with uncharacteristic gentleness. "The rest of you, begone! Mecha, dispose of them. Gamma is the only successful prototype among them." 

"Yes sir!" Mecha said. He strode to a control panel in the corner, cackling evilly to himself. Three down, one to go, and he was sure he could get his master to discard Gamma once Mecha showed him newest addition to the robot clan. 

Teleporter beams formed around the three unfortunate roots. First Zeta disappeared, then Epsilon, then Delta, bound for destinations known only to Metal Sonic. Before Delta vanished, his head swivelled to look at Gamma for the last time. Gamma looked back and recorded it. He had lost his second 'friend'. 

Metal Sonic approached Robotnik again, his task completed. "Take the frog to the Hot Shelter," Robotnik commanded, placing Froggy in the robot's claws. "He will die soon without water, and I do not want him dead. Put him in the small number 4 tank." 

"Affirmative," Mecha purred, casting a possessive look at Gamma before turning away. The last of the E-series would soon be his, he was certain. 

Now Robotnik and Gamma were alone in the main hall. "I have another assignment for you, Gamma," Robotnik said. "Don't worry--this one's easy. Go through that door. You will find a girl and a bird. Bring me the bird." Suddenly the doctor lifted a hand to his radio earpiece he always wore while aboard the Egg Carrier. Gamma, hooked to the system as he was, also heard the announcement. "Hostile bi-plane spotted, carrying Priority Hedgehog. Approach run: Five o'clock at eighty miles an hour." 

Robotnik said a few words in what Gamma took to be a foreign language, then bolted for the stairs that led to the bridge. "Bring me the bird, Gamma!" Robotnik called over his shoulder. "I'm counting on you!" 

The robot obediently walked to the doors at the far end of the room and hesitated before them. There were three doors. Which was he to go through? Uncertain, he entered the one on the left. 

Construction Bay 15 was emblazoned on the wall in large black letters. Gamma scanned it, then stepped forward, curious. His black feet knocked against something. He looked down. An E-series arm, painted black and white. Nearby was the other arm, two legs and various parts Gamma recognized as the E-series torso. Beta had been black and white. 

Gamma slowly looked up. The construction chamber was at the end of the room, and something was inside. Hesitantly, almost fearfully, he crept up to it and looked in. 

The chamber was enclosed in a huge glass tube to keep out dust. The thing inside was held in a monstrous vice, and fifty mechanical arms inside the tube were working busily, welding, placing parts, screwing bolts, inserting internal controls, working, working. The thing they were working on was about 3/4ths finished--was missing an arm--and Gamma recognized it. "Beta?" 

E-101 Beta had been transformed from a fairly boring-looking robot to a hulking, ferocious-looking monster. Only his head and upper torso had remained unchanged. Mecha Sonic had added long, airplane like arms with two deadly claws at the ends. Instead of hands, there were laser lenses attached to the insides of the arms. Beta had no legs--they had been replaced by a short, rudder-like tail and hoverjets in his underbelly. His green eyes stared unseeingly at Gamma from under their suspended systems. 

Gamma left the construction chamber and stood for a moment in the main hall. After a long pause, he said, "That was the wrong room." He turned toward the other two doors. Mecha had departed out the center one, so it must lead to the Hot Shelter. Therefore the one on the right must be the correct one. Gamma strode through. 

* * *

Outside the Egg Carrier raged a furious air-to-air battle. But Sonic and Tails were not aboard a hunk of junk--they were aboard the rebuilt Tornado, sleek, fast and strong. Sonic was once again manning the firing controls. It was this time a small box with handles and triggers on either side, and a targeting screen built into the middle. The triggers fired the energy cannon on the Tornado's wings. He had unlimited ammo, as Tails had modified them to draw power directly from the chaos emeralds, instead of the engines as before. There were another pair of triggers as well, but they were locked and inoperative. He had asked Tails about them and was told that he would find out later. 

Tails made a dive for the runway below, but pulled up abruptly, nearly smacking Sonic's face into the firing controls. "Mines!" the fox shouted. "I can't land until we take 'em out!" Sonic looked around and saw the tiny green spiked things floating in a cloud over the Carrier's back. He ground his teeth and opened fire. Mines exploded in every direction. 

The biplane rolled to the side in a stomach-wrenching drop, and three kamikaze fighters screeched by. "Keep your eyes open, gunner!" Tails shouted. "They almost got us!" 

"Sorry!" Sonic shouted back. 

It was hard to see. The distant cloudbank Sonic had seen from Red Mountain provided apt cover for the monstrous Egg Carrier. They had entered it perhaps ten minutes before. The clouds above blotted out the sun, and often great patches of dense fog obscured the Carrier from view. The ocean had vanished below under a blanket of lower clouds, sometimes appearing as a black floor far below. Often the robot fighter planes would be invisible until they were right on top of the Tornado. It was a good thing they were not on board one of the earlier planes--the gyrations Tails pulled would have torn the wings off. 

Finally the last wave of fighters vanished in a nose-dive below them. To Sonic's surprise, Tails whipped the plane about and flew the opposite direction from the steel cloud. "I hope you know what you're doing!" Sonic called dubiously. 

"You bet!" Tails shouted. "Watch this! Transforming--now!" He pressed a button in the cockpit. 

A large mechanical arm emerged from the tail of the plane, grabbed Sonic and lifted him off the plane. "Hey!" Sonic yelled, then stared at what was happening to the Tornado. The propeller stopped spinning, folded up and retracted. The nose was closed over with metal panels, and two intake vents opened on either side. The wings lifted apart in an X shape and folded down to half their original width. The tail section opened, lifted up on a large joint, locked, and the hull closed over it. The arm sat Sonic down again in his seat, now a foot above the cockpit. "Wow!" the hedgehog exclaimed. 

"This is battle mode!" Tails hollered. "Hold down those other triggers to launch homing missiles!" 

"Homers?" Sonic exclaimed, but his words were snatched away by the wind as the little jet leaped forward an accelerated to speeds no mere biplane could hope to match. 

Another wave of fighters appeared from the underbelly of the Carrier. Sonic held down the formerly locked triggers and looked at his targeting screen. The dots at once became encircled by green crosshairs. Sonic released the triggers and felt several jolts as the missiles left the Tornado, cutting yellow streaks in the stormy air toward their targets. Sonic grinned as the distant jets exploded. He sucked a breath of the passing wind, tightened his grip on the controls and scanned the sky for more targets. 

Tails had his own ideas of justice. Now that the Tornado was in battle mode he was fearless and ready to take on the might of the Egg Carrier. Time to take another potshot at the giant laser cannon that had blown apart their last plane. If Sonic chickened out then Tails would take over the firing controls. Tails set his teeth and changed course. 

Sonic watched the side of the ship pass by thoughtlessly--he hardly ever questioned his sidekick's flight paths. It was not until they had pulled out in front of the Carrier and swung around toward it that the hedgehog saw what Tails intended to do. 

"Are you crazy?" Sonic yelled as the Tornado's speed dropped to five MPH. "We're gonna get toasted!" 

"Then put jam in your pocket," Tails growled, crouching behind the windscreen. "Start firing missiles so they'll impact when the fuselage opens." 

Sonic stared at the back of the fox's head for a moment, then targeted the Carrier and began firing missiles. Something told him his sidekick meant business, which wasn't something he had ever noticed in him before. 

The Cannon's doors opened and the great green lens lit up. Tails held the Tornado steady as Sonic fired with missiles and energy bolts, cool and relentless. Sonic chewed his lip as he fired, sweat standing out on his forehead. In the distance the missiles impacted on the lens harmlessly. 

Suddenly Tails gunned the engines and dodged sideways. The green beam cut the air to their left for an instant, then vanished. The doors closed. Tails repositioned the Tornado in front of it and commanded shrilly, "Fire!" 

The cannon fired at them a grant total of three times before the hundred-odd rounds pumped into it took effect. The laser crystal split and overheated. Flames licked into the cloudy air. Slowly, almost painfully, the damaged doors closed again over the inferno. "Yeah, we did it!" Tails yelled jubilantly, and Sonic joined him in a relieved cheer.


	20. A game for your life?

The Egg Carrier jolted violently, throwing E-102 Gamma against the the wall. He righted himself, and continued to walk down the short cell block. There were only three cells, all very large. In the one farthest from the door, the robot found Amy. 

Amy Rose sat on the floor, feet tucked beneath her, Birdy held protectively in her lap. She had been flung into her cell by a triumphant Zero three hours before. A little earlier, Metal Sonic himself had appeared and attempted to frighten her into giving up the flicky. She had been frightened, all right, but that had only aroused her protective instincts of the bird all the more, and she resisted defiantly. He had stared at her with his hateful red eyes and snarled a list of the ways he would like to see her die, then stalked out. 

Thus she was immediately on her guard when Gamma clanked up to the bars and said, "Kindly hand over the bird." 

"No way," Amy snapped, not even bothering to get up. He couldn't reach her way back here. 

"Quietly hand over the bird," Gamma repeated. 

"No," Amy retorted. 

"Why not?" It sounded childish and simple, coming from the big robot. It gave the little hedgehog courage. 

She stood up, the bird still in her hands. "YOU tell ME why YOU want him!" she demanded. 

Gamma 'thought' about it. Master had asked for the bird. Why he had asked, Gamma had no idea. "Data unavailable," he told Amy. 

"You don't even KNOW?" she asked. "You'd probably just hurt him, you big bully!" She turned away to block the flicky from the robot with her body. 

Gamma scanned the mainframe. Why was the hedgehog here? E-Zero Alpha had filed a report saying she had tried to keep him from retrieving the bird, and he had had to bring her along, too. Why? It didn't make sense. "Does not computer," he told Amy. "Why try to protect that which is useless to you? Does not compute." 

"Don't you understand?" Amy said sharply, looking up at the green eyes. The robot looked back at her, not maliciously or angrily, just blankly. Amy's face softened. "You DON'T understand," she said, turning back around. "Robotnik didn't give you feelings." She walked up to the bars. To her surprise, Gamma raised his hands as if to ward off a blow and backed away. He was afraid of her? Strange--he was three times her size. "I protect that which is useless to me because of love, Mr. Robot," she said softly. "It's called compassion. I'll bet you'd feel it right now if you could--for us, locked in here." 

Suddenly Birdy struggled out of Amy's hands and flew through the bars. "Birdy, come back!" Amy cried, reaching after him. The flicky flew up and hovered before Gamma, chirping rapidly, as if talking in his own language. The robot did not try to catch him. Instead he simply looked, then shuddered all over, as if about to fall apart. Something had happened to him, Amy saw. Then, to her surprise, Gamma turned, stepped to the release lever and pulled it down. The bars on Amy's cell lifted into the ceiling. She stood, mouth open, as the flicky returned to her her shoulder. 

"It is dangerous here," Gamma said without turning. "We will be arriving in the Mystic Ruins base soon. Go. Escape." 

Amy stood there for a long moment in shock. She ... was being allowed to escape? This tall red robot was much different from Metal Sonic or Zero. Maybe it was built wrong. She instantly felt sorry for him in spite or herself--he wasn't evil enough to work for Robotnik. 

"You're different from those other robots," she told the robot's back. "I'll try to return the favor sometime." She paused awkwardly, then said, "Goodbye!" and dashed for the door. 

Gamma remained where he was for the better part of an hour, numbed to his core by what he had just done. He had disobeyed orders. Master would have him dismantled, he was sure. Or--the images of the rebuilt Beta and the vanishing Delta flashed through his memory--he would be handed over to Metal Sonic for experimentation. A shudder rocked his frame. 

"Emergency alert has been established," the speaker system said. Gamma did not acknowledge it, but continued to stare at the wall. He had failed his mission, and all he could do now was wait until Master sought him out for punishment. 

* * *

"We're in!" Tails hollered, slowing the Tornado's engines and coming in low toward the runway on the Egg Carrier's back. 

"All right!" Sonic yelled. "I didn't think we'd make it!" 

The runway neared, a small gray strip hat grey to a large gray strip. "Uh-oh," Tails said suddenly. "I forgot something." 

"What's that?" 

"There's no landing gear in this mode!" 

"WHAAAT?" 

But they were too close now to pull up. Tails slowed to a crawl, dipped low-- 

The bottom tips of the wings scraped the runway. The biplane flipped forward on its nose, grated forward another ten feet, and came to a halt at last. Sonic jumped off the tail, panting. "Well, that wasn't too bad." 

Tails unstrapped himself and climbed out of the cockpit, eyes immediately going to the lower wings. They were bent, but not badly. 

"This thing is really huge!" Sonic said, drawing Tails's attention to the ship about them. The runway was located just aft of the prow. Behind the runway was a wide cylinder of green glass with machinery turning and pumping inside. Beyond the green cylinder loomed the towers and windows of the bridge, high above the deck. Yet beyond that were the enormous wings and tail fins. 

"No time to gawk now," said Tails, disgusted at the automatic awe he felt. "We need to find Amy." 

"Good point," Sonic said, snapping out of his reverie. "Here we go!" A feast for the eyes, yes, but it was still the enemy's flagship. "Remember that," Sonic told himself. 

They trotted across the runway, feeling the vibration all about them of the ship's movement. They found a motorized lift at the far end, rode it down to the main deck, and trotted aft, toward the bridge. 

Robotnik's voice roared out suddenly, startling the two. "You think this is going to be easy, don't you, fools? You have not yet seen the power this vessel REALLY has! Get a load of this!" Sonic grabbed Tails' arm in preparation for flight in case of attack, but that was not their enemy's plan this time. 

The huge things laid along either side of the Egg Carrier's nose section lifted and swivelled outward. Sonic and Tails had thought they were armor panels, but saw now that they were monstrous wings. As the wings moved out, the deck before them lifted up and lengthened, moving the bridge up and backward. The wing panels twisted around, revealing giant guns ready to annihilate all comers. In the rear, another set of tail fins emerged and the ones already there tilted down, forming an X shape, much as the Tornado had. 

Sonic and Tails now stood on the battle-ready Egg Carrier, staring at the vast transformation. "It changed!" Tails exclaimed. "Did you SEE that?" 

Sonic gave Tails a sideways look that said, "Duh." "Darn!" Sonic said aloud. "This makes it harder for us to get to the bridge." 

"I hate it when he doesn't listen to me," Tails muttered. 

"I'll bet you weren't expecting that!" Robotnik boomed with obvious pleasure. "The only way to the bridge now is through the Sky Deck. I doubt you can figure this one out." 

"Oh yeah?" Sonic challenged, raising a defiant fist. "Bring it on!" 

Sonic and Tails trotted along the deck toward a steep metal ramp with a door in the top, a short distance away. "I'll bet that's the Sky Deck entrance," Sonic said, pointing. "Let's go!" The hedgehog climbed the ramp, sneakers slipping on the smooth metal. Tails hesitated at the bottom and looked back. "What about the Tornado? What if he steals it?" 

"Where's he gonna put it?" Sonic called down, opening the door and looking inside. "It's already on board!" 

Tails frowned, but climbed the ramp anyway. "He could burn it or throw it overboard or something." 

"Well, we'll have to get to the bridge before he can do anything," Sonic said, flashing an innocent grin. "C'mon!" The two stepped inside, and the door closed behind them. 

* * *

After Amy was released from her cell, she scampered through the exit door, entered a room with a round thing in the center she thought was a teleporter machine, ran around it and tried the far door. It was locked. 

The pink hedgehog looked around the room for another door, but there were only the cell block door and the locked one. "Oh great, Birdy," Amy panted, afraid but not quite to panic-mode. "What do we do now?" 

Robotnik's voice boomed from a speaker somewhere in the room, startling her. "So, you've managed to escape, have you? You won't get very far. Only my robots can open that door. The only way you could open it is ..." She could almost see the smile spreading across Robotnik's broad face. "... beat my score." 

The machine in the center of the room lit up, and so did a vast scoreboard on one wall. "Dr. Robotnik, 2000 points," it said. Amy and her bird exchanged a glance. Play a game for her life? Well, stranger things had happened. She stepped onto the machine. 

It was a small round platform surrounded by a ring of holes. Nearby lay a yellow mallet on a cord. Amy picked it up and tugged at the cord. To her surprise it snapped loose from the nail quite easily. She clenched her fingers around the handle and looked up at the scoreboard, which blinked, "Hedgehog Hammer. Blue Sonic = 100 points. Yellow Sonic = 500 points. Dr Robotnik = -200 points." 

Little heads began popping out of the ring of holes, easily recognizable as Sonic, Super Sonic and Robotnik heads. Amy timidly whacked a few, but not enough. After a moment the game was over and her score total was 400 points. "You'll have to do better than that," Robotnik guffawed. "Pitiful female!" 

Amy bristled. So, she wasn't going to be killed if she lost--she would be insulted! "Just you wait, Robotnik!" she shouted shrilly. She brought her mallet down hard on the center platform she stood on, which triggered another round. Furious, she whacked heads left and right, not caring if they were Robotnik or Sonic heads--if it moved, she hit it. Her flicky sat on a pipe in the corner and watcher her with nervous awe; he had never seen his little mistress so angry. Was it his imagination, or was her soft hair actually bristling a little, like Sonic's? 

The game ended. Breathing heavily, eyes flaming, She whirled to face the scoreboard. "3100 points," it blinked. "New high score." 

"No way!" Robotnik exclaimed. "I don't believe this!" 

"Believe it!" Amy snapped as the formerly locked door slid open. She started to set her mallet down, but hesitated and looked at it. It was a weapon of sorts, and as the robot had said, the Egg Carrier was a dangerous place. She would take it with her. 

Amy strode out the door, hammer in one hand, flicky flying along behind her. Anger and confidence in her weapon made her fearless. She looked around the large empty hall, tapping the mallet against her palm. She had been dragged through this elaborate green room by Zero. She moved into the center of it and looked around. There were doors everywhere. Which should she go through? 

Birdy knew. The least obvious way to get off the Carrier was through the Hot Shelter, which was how he had evaded Zero. He fluttered toward the appropriate door, chirping. Amy followed him. "You want to go that way? What makes you so sure it's best?" 

Birdy couldn't say many words, but he knew a few. "Escape!" 

Amy blinked. The bird seemed to speak up at odd times. "All right, we'll try it," she said. She tapped the button with her hammer. The door opened, and the two entered. 

* * *

"I thought he called it a sky DECK!" Sonic yelled as he fled along a thin catwalk suspended from the underbelly of the Egg Carrier. 

"He did!" Tails shouted back from a few feet behind. He was flying with the aid of his anklets to keep up with Sonic, and both were fleeing for their lives. "It's a SKY deck! The deck is the sky!" 

"No kidding! Whoa, move it!" 

The catwalk behind them exploded into splinters and fluttered down into oblivion. The giant anti-aircraft energy cannons had them targeted, and were systematically blowing away the catwalks in an attempt to hit the hedgehog and fox. 

Their headlong flight carried them to one of the many support pillars that hung from the ship's underbelly. These were extended for attack mode, and rocket launchers swung from the bottoms. The catwalks connected them for the maintenance droids that hovered about, ready to fix any battle damage. 

Sonic dashed up the ladder on the pillar's side, made it to the platform near the roof and fled along the next catwalk, Tails close behind him. The nearest cannon, the largest of them all, swiveled with them and fired. The catwalk faded into fragments, the concussion knocking Sonic and Tails forward. Sonic nearly fell from the bouncing catwalk, but Tails caught him by an arm and hauled him back up, and away they went. 

"That was too close!" Sonic yelled against the wind as they arrived at the next pillar. 

"Tell me about it!" Tails yelled back. "From now on, wear a parachute before skydiving!" 

"Thanks for the advice!" 

This pillar was emblazoned with a giant number 1. As Sonic inched his way around it on the narrow catwalk support band, Tails squinted at the pillars. He could see a 2, 3 and a 4, all connected in a big square. The number 4 pillar supported a small platform that extended right out to the main cannon itself. He wasn't sure, but there appeared to be some sort of robot-operated gun on that platform, too ... 

Sonic had made it to the next platform. Tails revved his tails, flew after him and shouted, "If we get to pillar four, we can shoot a rocket up the barrel of the big sucker!" He pointed to the main cannon, which was again following their movement and preparing to fire. 

"Cool!" Sonic yelled back. 

They made it to pillars 2, 3 and 4 without more than a fright at the near-accuracy of the giant red cannon. Then the two dashed out on the pillar 4 platform to the smaller gun mounted there. Sure enough, it launched rockets--probably for picking off pilots who ejected from their falling planes, they decided later. It took the two of them to wrench back the safety, swivel the launcher to point up the throat of the cannon (which was only ten feet away and drawing a bead on them), and pull back the bar that was the trigger. 

The rocket shot up the cannon. There came an orange explosion in the depths of the barrel, then flames burst from the cannon's underbelly. "Whoo-hoo!" the two whooped as chunks of paneling tore lose from the cannon and whirled away downward. "Now, let's get out of here!" Tails exclaimed. He leaped for a ladder that went up the side of pillar 4 and through a hole in the ship above them. 

"All right!" Sonic said, clambering up after his sidekick. "The Sky Deck wasn't so dangerous after all!" 

Tails reached the top of the ladder, thrust his head out into the sunlight on top of the ship and looked around. "I think you spoke too soon, Sonic." 

"Why?" 

"We ain't out of it yet." 

Sonic climbed up and stuck his head out of the hole, and stared in horror. They were out on the starboard wing, wind ripping across it. The bulk of the Egg Carrier was off to their right. 

"How'd we get out here?" 

"Donno." Sonic climbed out into the sun and wind, Tails following hesitantly. "Let's go, kiddo." The hedgehog and fox started across the vast, windy expanse. 

* * *

As Sonic and Tails braved the dangers of the upper Sky Deck, Amy braved the dangers of the Hot Shelter. 

The doors that opened from the main hall were an elevator that lowered its passengers into the lowest floor of the Egg Carrier. The pink hedgehog stood, biting her lower lip nervously, as the doors opened. The flicky flew out into the hall, and Amy followed. 

She was struck first with the smell of humid, warm air, and then of fish. The walls on either side were made of glass, and at first glance, were a light aquamarine blue. Then she looked again, and stared. They were not walls at all--they were gigantic aquariums, some tropical, some cold, all filled with fish. Some were fish Amy had never even imagined before, pulled from the bottom of the sea to grace Robotnik's menagerie. She did not see Chaos' disembodied eyes and skeleton, as he was resting in a clump of kelp in the corner of the largest tank. But he watched her with the cold disinterest of a reptile as she walked by. 

"Why would Robotnik have all this water on his ship?" she asked Birdy. "It must weigh a ton! If I had a ship like this, I sure wouldn't have yucky old fish tanks." It was rather interesting to look at them, though. Something about the color, or perhaps the constant, graceful motion of the schools of little tropical fish, was relaxing. Amy loosened her grip on her mallet and ran a hand through her hair. She must look a fright--she hadn't combed her hair all day long! 

The hall turned a wide corner, and Amy took it slowly, looking at the fish in each tank. The flicky was not interested in the fish, and kept flying ahead impatiently. It probably saved his life. 

The wall to Amy's left (a solid wall, not a tank) exploded outward with a crash, throwing the hedgehog against the glass on the right. Stunned, it was a few seconds before she gained enough wits to realize what had happened. She picked up her hammer, climbed to her feet--and found herself face to face with the black and green trash can, Zero. 

Amy shrieked and ducked around him, stumbling over the debris on the floor, and pelted away down the hall. Birdy had been further ahead, and so had avoided Zero's entry. He flew to his little mistress and flew close beside her for protection. "C'mon, Birdy!" the hedgehog cried. Behind them, Zero clattered over the collapsed wall and gave chase. 

A large circular room ahead. Amy jumped down in it, hit the ground and stumbled--it was a lot further down then she had expected. A sort of pillar rose up in the center with a ladder mounted on the side. Amy clambered up this, panting and waiting to hear Zero's clank as he jumped in after her. She reached the top, swung herself up, and stopped with a gasp. Sitting on hands and knees on top of the platform with her was a purple cat, easily as big as Zero. 

The cat looked down at her and said, "Hi, I'm Big. Could you help me?" 

"I'm trying to get away from that robot," Amy blurted, "and he's right there!" She pointed at the mouth of the hallways fifteen feet away, where Zero was just rolling to a halt. 

Big looked at him and shrugged. "My Froggy friend is in that tank over there," he said, gesturing to the nearby corner tank. "If I pull this plug, all the water will drain into this place and I can catch him. But I can't undo this catch. Can you help me?" 

The pink hedgehog looked back at Zero. The robot seemed at a loss as to how to reach her ... for the moment. A moat filled with water might hinder him ever more, Amy thought suddenly. "Here," she said, handing her mallet to Big. "Use this." What did it matter if he worked for Robotnik or not? He was probably a janitor or something. 

Big swung the hammer with the easy strength that hauled in sharks on a line when he took a fancy for seafood. The catch over the drain switch snapped open. Big handed the mallet back to Amy with a, "Thanks a lot," and flipped the switch. 

All the tanks on that floor of the Hot Shelter opened, the glass walls slid into the floor. A huge waterfall gushed into the 'moat' from all sides, sweeping fish, plants, a frog and a monster into the emergency tank together. The water rose until it was about six inches below the top of their pillar, and there it stopped. 

Amy saw with surprise that when the drain switch had been pulled, a sort of drawbridge had lowered from the wall opposite the entrance, revealing a door. With scarcely a backward glance at Big, the little pink hedgehog dashed across and up to the door. It was obviously watertight, but there was a crank mounted on the wall beside it. 'One left, three right', read a small sign next to it. Amy timidly grasped the handle and turned the appropriate combination. The door lifted into the ceiling with a hiss. Birdy immediately flew inside, and Amy followed.


	21. Knuckles and the Egg Carrier

Deep in the hull of the Egg Carrier, near the nose section, Knuckles was having a hard time. 

He had been on deck when the Carrier entered battle mode, but had been standing on one of the sections that opened and extended. He had fallen down inside, and the hull closed over him, trapping him in a maze of support beams, struts and cables, with the wind whistling through the cracks in the armor plating. He had had to dig his way out. 

If not for the tough leather gloves and shovel claws, Knuckles probably would have smashed his hands to pieces and not much else. But he was able to rip and ram his way into the safety of a cargo hold, where he had paused for a rest. 

His rest was short-lived, as alarms sounded and red lights began flashing. A fire had been detected in the prow, and all forward compartments would be locked down in five minutes until further notice. 

The echidna fled for the safety of the deck, cursing Sonic and Tails for wrecking the Egg Cannon and starting the fire. He would be locked in with the fire and roasted if he didn't make it out. 

He was within sight of one of the exit hatches--he could see the sky through it--when it snapped shut and locked. Knuckles stopped on the ladder and sat panting, listening to doors snap shut in the hull all around him. "It never fails," he growled. He vaulted from the ladder and began a desperate search for some sort of exit. 

The echidna had nearly given up all hope and was tapping the steel walls for a thin spot to tear through when he realized he was picking up an emerald-shard signal. He homed in on it hopefully, and found a garbage bin on a conveyer belt that was slowly crawling out of the quarantined section. Knuckles leaped, glided, swung from a steel strut, and landed in the garbage bin. 

"I hope he doesn't jettison his trash," Knux thought as he lay flat in the bin. "I've gotta find that shard." 

He dug in the trash robot parts, paper, cans, food remains and dead fish. He was sure that the shard was here somewhere ... 

The bin stopped with a jolt and began to tilt forward. Knuckles looked around. Below him was a deep, dark shaft. He leaped out of the bin, landed on a conveyer belt going the opposite direction, jogged along it and scrambled up onto a platform that held the garbage disposal controls. There he stood and watched as the bin dumped its cargo down the shaft, then was wheeled onto the other belt by the machinery. Where did that trash go? He needed to get his emerald ...! 

Knuckles looked down at the garbage controls and suddenly grinned. Here was the readout of the garbage disposal system. It all went to the compactors in the lower Sky Deck. The door to the lower Sky Deck was a few feet away, labeled clearly. 

And it was unlocked. 

* * *

Sonic and Tails clung to the base of an anti-aircraft cannon with all their might. The Egg Carrier had sped up and dipped down into the clouds, the wind ripping over the wings with deadly force. It they had not taken shelter in the lee of the cannon, they two would have been blasted into space like scraps of paper. 

The Carrier's speed slackened, and the wind fell. Sonic grabbed Tails' wrist, and they two dashed across the wing to the side of the ship and up a ladder there. The sky was dark and angry, and patches of cloud whipped by like wraiths. Raindrops slashed down, staining the metal hull with water as slick as oil to their desperate feet. 

The two fled toward the center of the ship, across a runway that appeared before them, and into a huge doorway like an airplane hanger. 

For the first time they were out of the wind and could speak to each other. "I don't like this place," Tails panted to Sonic. 

"Me neither," Sonic agreed. "Maybe we can get to the bridge from in here. See that door up there?" The blue hedgehog pointed to a door mounted high in the far wall. "Let's get to that and look around." 

* * *

Knuckles stood on a high platform in the lower Sky Deck, hidden from Sonic and Tails' line of vision. Before him was a thick post, like a gigantic joystick. He had looked things over from his high vantage point, and the only way to force the garbage chutes open was to roll the Carrier on its side, and this joystick would do just that. 

He seized it and wrenched it to the left. 

* * *

In the Hot Shelter, Amy staggered on the suddenly tilting floor, and fell onto the wall on her hands and knees with a squeak. 

* * *

In the Bridge, Robotnik and Metal Sonic looked at each other in surprise as the Carrier rolled over on its side. Robotnik quickly strapped himself into his chair to avoid falling out, and Mecha braced himself against the control panel. "What on Mobius is going on?" Robotnik snarled, hands flying over the nearly vertical control panel. Mecha gazed at the screens as his master worked. "Someone manipulated the emergency controls in the Sky Deck," he reported. 

"They shouldn't have been able to get up there!" Robotnik exclaimed. "Override!" 

* * *

Sonic and Tails found themselves standing on what had been the left wall, but only for a few seconds. The garbage cute doors in the right wall--now the ceiling--opened, and tons of trash poured out onto the wall beneath. Sonic and Tails ran for the door they had seen earlier, now almost accessible, seven feet above the floor. 

* * *

Robotnik regained control of the Egg Carrier. It rolled back upright. 

* * *

Amy braced herself and came up with her feet on the floor, but with whirling vertigo. 

* * *

In the Sky Deck, Sonic and Tails tumbled back to the floor, and so did heaps of smelly trash. 

Knuckles, who had been climbing down the 'wall' to the trash, found himself on his hands and knees on the floor. He stood up, slightly dizzy. "Darn you, Robotnik!" he shouted, shaking a fist. 

Sonic jumped up and looked around. "Knux!" he hollered, hearing his friend's voice but unable to see him. 

Knuckles turned toward the sound. "Sonic?" 

Sonic and Tails ran up to the echidna and greeted him. Knuckles was as surprised and pleased as they. He explained about looking for the shard, and they told him about trying to reach the bridge. "Tell you what," said Knuckles. "I'll tilt the ship again so you can get up to the door. I'll catch up to you once I find the piece." 

Sonic and Tails watched as the echidna climbed the wall and glided to the high platform where the joystick was located. "Good thing he's here," Tails smiled, elbowing Sonic. "You're too heavy to airlift that high." 

Knuckles grasped the joystick and pushed the nose of the ship down. 

* * *

Amy gave a shriek and fell down the passage, which had suddenly turned into a gaping well. She barely managed to catch a pipe on the wall as she slid by, and clung to it, gasping in terror. 

* * *

Sonic and Tails fell onto the wall, raced to the door, jumped down inside it and yelled their thanks to their friend. Knuckles pulled the joystick back to center, and the monstrous Egg Carrier pulled out of its nose dive and once again leveled out. 

* * *

Robotnik shut down the power to that troublesome joystick once and for all, then stood. Metal Sonic had not enjoyed toppling about the cockpit like a piece of furniture, and so was hovering independently in the middle of the room. He landed as Robotnik turned toward him. "Mecha," Robotnik said, "go to the Hot Shelter and bring Chaos to the upper deck. I have some things to do." 

"Aye, sir," Mecha replied, and departed. He hated and feared Chaos, and Chaos looked down his liquid nose at Mecha. If the robot succeeded in leading the monster to the upper deck, it would be because Chaos had nothing better to do. 

Robotnik departed shortly after Metal Sonic did, but for his own reasons. 

* * *

Birdy led Amy into a large circular room. She stopped and stared at the machine in the center of the room. If she had been more experienced she would have recognized the thing as a half-built robotizer. As it was, she had no idea what it was for, but she had an uncomfortable feeling it was something evil. 

The green flicky fluttered to a ladder, perched on a rung and twittered impatiently. "All right, I'm coming," Amy called, trotting across the room. She climbed the ladder slowly. She was feeling very tired from the excitement of the day, and could only think of going home and taking a long nap. 

* * *

Sonic and Tails entered into the long green main hall where Robotnik had briefed the E-series robots. "That's it?" Sonic said, looking around the empty room and placing his fists on his hips. 

"Maybe," Tails said, looking and listening suspiciously. "I'll bet we can get to the bridge from here. C'mon Sonic! He might have robotized Amy by now!" 

The two made for the lift at the end of the room.


	22. Sonic and E-102 Gamma

Amy pulled the handle that opened the hatch, and stepped out into the windy storm-darkness of the main deck. "Whew, it's cold out here!" she said as Birdy landed on her arm. "Now, how are we going to get away from here?" 

"You're not going anywhere, Amy Rose." 

The hedgehog spun about to see Robotnik in his little hovercraft flying toward her. "What do you want, jerk?" 

"That's easy, my dear." He flew the ship right up to her, leaned out and swiped the flicky from his perch. 

"No, not the Birdy!" Amy cried, leaping up on the side of the hovercraft. Robotnik shoved her away and floated out of her reach. 

At that moment the lift doors opened, and Sonic and Tails hopped out onto the deck. "Ha, you're too late!" Robotnik sneered. He pressed a button on his radio and said, "Gamma! Come to the rear of the ship, now, and get your hoverjet! The ammunition room is unlocked." As he spoke to the robot, he had pulled out a pair of pliers and clamped them around the ring on the flicky's leg. He gave a deft twist. The flicky squeaked, the ring broke, and the tiny blue stone set in it fell into Robotnik's hand. He threw the flicky out of his ship (Amy caught it as it fell) and held aloft a blue chaos emerald. Released from it's size-restraining ring, it popped to full size in his hand. 

"Oh no, it's another emerald!" Tails cried. 

Sonic and Amy could only gape. 

"Begone, all of you!" Robotnik roared. "This is all I really need!" 

* * *

Gamma awoke from his stupor as his master summoned him. It was a call to duty. Master must not have seen him release the girl. He would not be dismantled after all! 

The long-legged robot dashed out of the cell block and into the ammunition room, where several robot technicians, that were built only to maintain other robots, installed the flat hover unit to his back. Then Gamma made for the deck lift at a run. 

* * *

Amy stood with her back to the wind, cradling the heartbroken flicky in her arms and crooning soothing words. Absorbed, she did not see when the lit doors opened again, and out stepped E-102 Gamma. She did notice, however, when Robotnik yelled, "Take care of them, Gamma! I'm counting on you!" He whipped his hovercraft about and roared off toward the nose of the ship. 

The pink hedgehog turned and saw the tall red robot who had helped her, as it trained its gun on Sonic. "No!" she cried. 

Sonic and Tails dodged left and right as Gamma fired. His shots went wide. Sonic's quick mind was analyzing the robot--could it move fast? How would it attack? Its size was a definite disadvantage--he could rip it to pieces before it even decided to sidestep. 

"Resistance is futile," Gamma droned. He leaped into the air, activated his hoverjet and buzzed over Sonic like a wasp, firing as he came. Sonic ducked under him, hearing faintly as Amy cried again, "Stop, please!" 

The robot landed, swept Sonic with his tag laser and fired. Hit! Sonic tumbled to the deck and lay stunned, unable to even guess where he had been struck. Tails saw his hero fall, gave a battle-scream and tore into the robot from the side with the ferocious spin-attack Tikal had taught him. Gamma staggered sideways, then whirled with sudden anger and backhanded the fox in the face with the side of his gun. 

Tails spun and fell on his hands and knees, the world going 'round. Sonic was just climbing to his feet, shaken, clutching at the laser burn that traced along his chest and under his arm--it had only grazed him. He saw Tails go down, forgot his injury, and attacked Gamma with savage fury. 

"Stop it! Sonic, please stop!" Amy begged from a distance. 

Gamma suffered one more blow, staggered back, then collapsed in a crumpled, sparking heap on the deck. "Gotcha!" Sonic snarled, and dashed forward to finish the robot off. 

Amy flashed between Sonic and the robot and stood her ground, eyes flaming. Sonic set his feet and stopped just short of knocking her over. "Get away, Amy!" he panted, pupils dilated with rage. "I'm gonna take him down!" 

"No!" Amy snapped right back. "This robot's my friend! He helped me! Please don't kill him!" 

Sonic lifted a hand to shove her aside, but checked himself. The robot would probably shut down anyway, and if it had helped her, did that mean it had rebelled? This flashed through his head in a fraction of a second, and he made his decision. "Okay," he said, backing away from Amy and her robot. "You must have your reasons." 

The ship under their feet jolted, and they felt a sensation like dropping in an elevator. "The ship is losing altitude!" Tails yelled from several feet away, where he was looking up the Egg Carrier's length. 

"Tails," Sonic commanded, "take Amy and get out of here!" 

Amy looked from Sonic to Tails and back again. "Sonic, what about you?" 

"I'm gonna nail that Eggman!" he yelled over his shoulder, already dashing away. 

Amy watched him enter the bridge's tower, then turned to Gamma. The robot had climbed unsteadily to his feet and was standing quietly, braced on one leg--the other was bent sideways. He knew very well that he had lost the battle, and would have been destroyed had not Amy interfered. "Why do you help me?" he asked her plaintively. His internal systems were not functioning very well, and his visual sensors would not focus properly, but internal repair was activated and he was slowly stabilizing. 

"I told you I would try to return the favor sometime," she replied with a smile. "You're too nice of a robot to work for Robotnik. You should leave and do something else." 

Gamma trembled at her words. That would be out and out rebellion. But had he not already disobeyed orders once by freeing her? 

"Amy, c'mon!" Tails said, running up and taking her hand. "We don't have much time!" He spun his tails and lifted her into the air, the flicky flying along beside her. "Goodbye, Mr. Robot!" she called to Gamma. 

He watched them for a moment, then activated his hoverjet and rose off the deck. He would go with them part of the way. 

* * *

Sonic watched them go through the windows of the bridge. The bridge was empty, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be that way for long. He looked at the control panel. If he wanted to follow Robotnik, he had better change the ship back to it's original shape, or he would have to go back through the Sky Deck, and that would take too long. There had to be a button or something that would change the ship ... 

A frantic search revealed nothing, and common sense told him that it would be in quite a different place than the regular flight controls. Exasperated, he sat down in Robotnik's chair-- 

And found the button. It was under a plastic shield on the arm of the chair. He laughed, slid back the shield and pressed the button. 

The Egg Carrier shrank together, contracted, folded. The attack wings rotated and swung back to their places alongside the ship's nose. The bridge swung forward and lowered to deck level once more.


	23. Chaos 5

Throughout the ship, a computer voice announced, "Emergency alert has been canceled. Resuming monorail operation." 

Knuckles heard it as he stood on a pile of trash, a chunk of glassy emerald in one hand. 

Big the Cat heard it as he stood in the main hell below deck, a fishing pole under one arm and a frog under the other. "We'd better get out of here, Froggy," he said. "If this places crashes, nobody's gonna worry about helping us." The purple cat crossed the room to the lift and rode it up to the deck. 

Big had only just caught Froggy in the Hot Shelter when his ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps. He had trotted down the hall and taken the elevator up to the main hall, only to feel the ship about him lurch and begin to drop. 

The stormy, cold air ruffled his fur as the cat trotted forward, across the newly-restored Egg Carrier, over a catwalk, and onto the giant green engine housing. There Big halted in surprise. 

Standing on the housing was a large creature that appeared to ba a shark made of water with fiery green eyes. Dr. Robotnik hovered nearby in his hovercraft. "So, trying to escape, are you?" Robotnik sneered at the cat. "Go right ahead--but leave me the frog." 

Froggy wriggled and thrashed suddenly, and Big had to drop him. The frog plopped to the thick glass, then hopped toward the waiting Chaos. Big started after him, but stopped when Chaos lunged at him with a bubbling growl. 

Robotnik flung Chaos the blue stone stolen from Amy's flicky, and Froggy gave a convulsive twitch, opened his wide mouth, and Big's bright yellow emerald clinked to the deck. Chaos grasped the stones with one hand and the frog with the other, then melted into a vast puddle with all of them inside. 

For a long moment nothing happened. Then slowly, a haze formed around the puddle. Big looked up at the sky and saw with surprise that Chaos was actually pulling a cloud into himself. His form would be very large and he needed more water than he had with him. 

A blue hedgehog dashed into the glass arena, looked at Big, Robotnik and Chaos, and cried, "He's changing AGAIN?" 

As Sonic spoke, the puddle rose, rose, fifteen feet, twenty feet, twenty-eight feet, and solidified into the impossibly ugly shape of a monstrous scorpion. It had six legs, the hindmost of which were tall and bent like a grasshopper's and reinforced with cartilage. The two green eyes were now laid vertically, on the front and top of the bulldog-like head, and six smaller eyes were arranged in a row alongside the lowest one. Chaos' jaws were reinforced this time and edged with teeth. 

"Wonderful, Chaos!" Robotnik applauded. "He is more power than ever, now! And I even found his missing tail." 

Froggy, floating aimlessly in the watery body of the monster, suddenly jerked, as if with electric shock, and his un-froglike tail shrunk and vanished. At the same time, the tail reappeared, doubled over Chaos's back, enlarged twenty times. It did not have a stinger on the end--it had a thing that was shaped like a pendulum. 

"I must save Froggy!" Big cried, seeing his little friend, now in his right mind, trying to jump through Chaos's side and failing. Bug Big dared not go near those giant snapping jaws. 

"If he's your friend," Sonic said, "I'll help you save him. Look, I'll attract Chaos's attention, and you fish the frog out." 

Big nodded. 

Robotnik, having circled Chaos 6 admiringly, ordered, "All right Chaos, destroy them all!" 

Sonic darted toward Chaos, waving his arms. "Hey! Look at me! You'll never win a beauty contest, ugly! Nah nah!" The towering aquamarine scorpion turned to follow him, and Big slipped up behind the monster. Froggy, eyes always on Big, swam to the side nearest him. Big flicked his fishrod and let fly the line at the frog. It struck the water, but Chaos wheeled about, and Big missed. Sonic appeared. "Stay behind him! Here, Chaos Chaos Chaos! Don't you want a bite of nice tasty hedgehog?" He fled away across the top of the engine housing, and Big edged in behind Chaos for another try. 

This time, as the line broke through Chaos' surface tension with a small ripple, Froggy snapped up the lure in desperation. Big tugged, strained--Froggy emerged from the monster halfway--and popped free and sailed right into Big's hands. "Oh boy!" Big exclaimed, hugging the weary amphibian. "Froggy!" 

The cat carried the frog away from the battling monster and hedgehog, and up to the safety of the runway. Big set Froggy down, and the frog hopped immediately toward a small blue-and-orange biplane that rested on its snout and forward wings a short distance away. Froggy bounded into the cockpit, looked at Big, and croaked hopefully. Big looked at the plane and shook his head. "We need to get away, sure," he said, "but I don't know anything about aeroplanes." He kicked a wing experimentally, and the whole plane jumped. It was lighter than it appeared. It gave Big an idea. 

Holding onto the underside of the wings, Big ran and leaped off the edge of the Carrier. The plane's wings formed enough lift to glide into the air and away into the cloudy air. "Hang on Froggy!" Big called. "Away we go!" 

Big, Froggy and the Tornado vanished in the direction of the mainland. 

* * *

As Knuckles had placed the recovered emerald chunk in his bag, the now-familiar pink ball of light appeared and circled his head. "Oh great, it's you," he said in impatience. "Well, make it snappy. I've got to find Sonic." 

In a second the echidna was transported from the world of the present to the world of the past, as he had twice before. 

Knuckles blinked and squinted. It was dark with stars overhead. He moved his feet, waiting for his eyes to adjust, and felt cobblestones beneath him. He must be back in the echidna city somewhere. Slowly he made out his surroundings. He was on a stone bridge that spanned a river. Ahead of him, in the distance, was a fiery red glow that lit the horizon. The more used to the darkness he grew the brighter it became. Curious, and yet with a faint sense of foreboding, he strode toward the light. 

Then he broke into a run with a sharp gasp--that was a fire, a bonfire, and if he had guessed correctly where he was-- 

The echidna climbed the hill and stood gazing in horrified grief at the Master emerald shrine. It was burning from base to crown, as if the water in the fountain had been turned to gasoline. The Master emerald sat alone amidst the flames, its glow dimmed by the furious crackling fire. Knuckles saw that the seven surrounding obelisks that used to hold the chaos emeralds were snapped and lay on the smooth grass like felled trees, their emeralds missing. 

Knuckles started to move forward, but his foot struck something. He looked down. A dead chao. They were everywhere, he saw. Someone--or several someones--had slaughtered them. The burning shrine, the dead chao--what did this mean? 

Another shape, larger than the rest, lay huddled in the grass near the foot of the pyramid. It was a moment before Knuckles realized it was an echidna. He rushed to it and knelt down. As he did it stirred and lifted its head--it was the girl, Tikal. 

"What happened here?" he asked. 

She looked at him in a daze, then at the blazing fire. "They--they came, and my father--" she faltered. She struggled to her feet and stood, nursing her right arm. Her right hand rested at such an angle Knuckles guessed her arm was broken, but Tikal didn't seem to care. She was staring at the dead chao, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, I can't believe how badly this turned out!" 

Knuckles remembered how she had loved the chao and promised to protect them, and his heart wrenched. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked gently. 

From out in the darkness, far off but not far enough, there came a blood-chilling scream. It was the scream of a very large creature who was also terribly angry. Knux jumped, but Tikal only shook her head. "Father ... I'm so sorry I defied you ... I was only trying to keep you from rousing him ..." Her voice cracked and she broke into sobs. 

Once more Knuckles stood on the Egg Carrier, still in Sky Deck with the emerald shard in his bag, but it seemed to him that he still heard the weeping of Tikal in his ears. 

* * *

Sonic saw the strange cat leave the top of the engine housing, and turned his attention to defeating Chaos 6. The monster's brain had always been the weakness before, and so would probably be again. 

The hedgehog charged at Chaos, leaped, curled into a ball, and shot himself between the insect eyes. 

He struck no brain. He floated for a moment, then was flung out as Chaos shook his head. Sonic landed and shook the water from his eyes. Chaos' brain was exactly in the center of his fat body, like a heart. It was impossible to reach, unless Sonic wanted to swim. 

As Sonic stood at a distance, studying his enemy, Chaos opened his vast jaws and inhaled with the strength of a hurricane. Sonic struggled to brace himself, to get out of Chaos's pull, but he had been too close to begin with. he was lifted off his feet and dragged straight into Chaos's mouth. 

Chaos snapped his jaws shut as soon as Sonic entered and tossed his head, swirling Sonic about like mouthwash. He stopped for a second, letting Sonic sink slowly, then caught the hedgehog in his teeth and bit down. 

With a snap of his neck Chaos flung his victim across the arena as his master applauded him from the sidelines. 

Coughing, Sonic sat up and held his stomach in agony. Chaos may as well have bitten him in half. The teeth had been leathery, not sharp; it was the incredible crushing force behind them that hurt--the strength of the ocean. 

As the hedgehog stumbled to his feet, Robotnik swooped forward with the over-enthusiastic notion of assisting Chaos. Sonic looked up and sidestepped in time to avoid the object that fell from the underside of the hovercraft. Still coughing, Sonic moved away. Chaos was walking (or crawling) across the arena toward him, and the last thing the hedgehog wanted was to get bitten again. 

Sonic could not run straight out, but he could jog. Robotnik followed him from the air, dropping bombs or the link, and Chaos only had to turn in place to keep Sonic in sight. Both knew the hedgehog was injured. Sonic had always had a high pain tolerance, but the terrible bruises across his stomach and back were making him dizzy. He had to keep moving or he would be Chaos chow. Each jarring footstep sent a sharp wave of pain through his middle. The salt water from submersion in Chaos was stinging in the laser scratch under his arm. Keep moving. Keep moving as long as you can. Don't quit or he'll get you ... 

Sonic's dazed eyes fell on one of the objects Robotnik had dropped. It was pouring some substance onto the glass to make it slippery. It steamed with cold. "Liquid nitrogen or something," Sonic thought dully, turning aside to avoid it. Then he stopped and whirled as an idea pierced the mist in his head. 

He snatched up the ice-bomb, tilted it so no more of the precious nitrogen would spill, then ran straight at Chaos. "Open wide!" the hedgehog yelled, and flung the bomb into the monster's half-open jaws. 

Chaos's teeth crushed the bomb to splinters, and the nitrogen instantly entered his liquid body. The monster gave a roaring cry, reared back on his hind legs--and froze into a block of ice. 

Forgetting his discomfort, Sonic flew forward and slammed into Chaos's throat. The statue shattered like glass and lay about the arena in fragments, but only for a second. The ice melted as if commanded to do so, and reformed into the scorpion shape again. Chaos shook his head angrily and advanced on Sonic again. 

Sonic had already retreated and picked up another bomb. Hurting, he crouched and waited for the monster to draw a little nearer before charging. 

Unexpectedly the huge tail lashed forward, stretching like gum. The pendulum on the end, now a burning orange, slashed like lightning at the hedgehog. Sonic recoiled automatically, feeling the burning heat of the blade against his face--it missed him by perhaps three inches. As the tail resumed its original position over Chaos's back, Sonic saw that the bomb in his hands had been split neatly in half. He dropped it in horror. It took little imagination to see what the tail would have done to him. 

The hedgehog snatched up another bomb and jogged around the circumference of the arena, then raced straight at Chaos and threw the bomb. Chaos lashed out his tail, but it hit the floor some fifteen feet beyond Sonic--and then he crystallized into white ice. Again Sonic shattered him. 

Another, slower reformation, and a twice as angry Chaos turned his maddened gaze on his enemy. Sonic, although still in pain, was in much better spirits, and ran to and fro on the green glass, a third bomb ready in his hands. 

The monstrous scorpion leaped straight up in the air, seemed to float a moment because of his vast size, then came down slow, faster, faster--and struck the arena floor with a thunderous boom. A visible shockwave, like a wave of crimson flame, shot out away from his body. Sonic had just enough wits to leap over it and fling his third shot into Chaos's face. 

The glass section Chaos had landed on smashed through under the blow. Now, as Chaos froze and Sonic smashed him, three-fourths of the ice fell into the churning machinery inside the housing. There came a low cry from the de-formed Chaos, then silence. 

"Sonic!" 

The hedgehog turned to see Knuckles running toward him across the catwalk, red dreadlocks blowing in the wind. 

"What happened, Knux?" Sonic asked sarcastically, holding his side. "I thought you got lost or something." 

Knuckles saw at once that a battle had ensued--the pain in Sonic's eyes, the crushed floor panel, the ice fragments and leftover bombs lying here and there, Robotnik hovering silently in his ship. "Sorry I'm late, Sonic, but we gotta get outta here. The fire in the forward sections is spreading to--" 

Robotnik interrupted with a roar, "I don't believe this! Fine, stay here! _I_ will return, even if Chaos doesn't!" He whipped his ship around and flew toward the edge of the Carrier. 

"STOP!" Sonic cried, racing after him idiotically. 

"Sonic, don't!" Knuckles yelled, giving chase, but he was no match for Sonic's speed. The hedgehog bounded off the engine housing, dashed across the deck, leaped into space-- 

\--and came down with his hands on the side of Robotnik's hovercraft. 

Knuckles raced to the edge and looked over. He glimpsed Sonic clinging to the side of Robotnik's ship before the two vanished into a cloud and were left behind by the Carrier. 

"Who's driving?" the echidna muttered, looking up the ship's length to the bridge. An explosion, muffled by multiple floors, rocked the deck beneath Knuckles's feet. "Whoa," he thought. "I'd better get out of here before the whole place goes!" He crouched to jump off the edge of the Egg Carrier-- 

"Dodge!" his instincts screamed. 

He sprang backward and to the side, just as a glowing pendulum tail slashed a groove in the deck where he had been standing. Knuckles whirled, heart hammering a tattoo against his ribs. Chaos 6, not yet defeated, stood on the edge of the engine housing, reeling in his tail for another try. 

* * *

Amy rose dangled helplessly from Tails' hold on her wrists. Her arms ached and she was terribly afraid of falling. Every so often she looked around for Birdy, and always the flicky was a few feet away, flying alongside Tails. Tails' attention was focused on the dim mainland in the distance, and no one spoke. 

Afterward Amy assumed she had fallen asleep for a few seconds. A little light, like a firefly, flew into her eyes and she wasn't flying in the cold wind anymore. She was standing on a wide cobblestone path. Before her, on the top of a little hill, only a few minutes' walk away, was a small stone pyramid with water pouring down the sides. On the top, under a little roof, was a green gem the size of a boulder. Standing before this pyramid was a young echidna girl. 

Amy trotted toward her and said hello, but her voice had no sound; it was a dream. The pink hedgehog stood and watched as the orange echidna tiptoed forward, looking around furtively. "I'm not supposed to be here," the echidna muttered with conviction. "Oh, but if only ..." She did not finish, but turned aside to look at something in the grass. Curious, Amy moved closer. 

Chao. "Oh, aren't they cute!" Amy squealed, but again, she made no sound. A group of the little blue creatures were standing in the grass, looking fearfully up at the echidna. The girl knelt and spoke softly. "Don't be afraid, little ones. I won't hurt you. I'm not like the other mainlanders." The lead chao looked up at her for a long time, then inched forward. The girl picked it up gently and rocked it like a baby doll. 

In a moment the other chao were gathered around the echidna's feet, jabbering and cooing. The girl was smiling foolishly, patting first one, then another. She clearly liked chao as much as Amy did. 

Suddenly there came a low growl from the pool at the base of the nearby pyramid. The girl turned and gasped as a humanoid head with green alien-eyes emerged from the water. Amy gasped, too-- 

\--And woke up. She was still hanging from Tails' hands, suspended high over the ocean. But now the sea was a calm blue, the clouds had receded into a dark bank in the west, and Sapphire Bay was visible ahead. 

* * *

Knuckles fled around the circumference of the arena, a furious Chaos 6 right behind him. 

The echidna had seen the ice and bombs lying about the arena after Sonic had departed, and put two and two together. There was only one way to defeat Chaos 6, and Sonic had discovered it. The echidna snatched up a bomb and turned toward the monster, just as Chaos opened his jaws and inhaled, as he had done with Sonic. Knuckles braced himself against the floor and tossed the bomb into the air. Chaos sucked it into his mouth, flinched, reared back convulsively, and froze into a scorpion statue. Knuckles ran up and punched it fiercely, and the statue collapsed into a heap of fragments. 

Now Chaos was after the echidna with a ferocity he had not showed Sonic. Knuckles could not keep still even for a second, or that fiery sting would slash down in an attempt to split his head. "What did I ever do to you?" Knuckles yelled. "Doc told you to get Sonic, not me!" 

Chaos stopped and looked at the puny (to him) echidna with his eight eyes. He seemed to be considering Knuckles' words. 

The scorpion form melted abruptly and formed into a bulb-shape, with the deadly tail protruding from the top like an enormous sprout. As Knuckles apprehensively watched this new gyration with, bright dots appeared in the bulb. These shot out like stick ropes and stuck, taut and quivering, to the edges of the arena. More and more struck out, until Knuckles was standing in a web of Chaos-tentacles, unable to move a step. 

The tail swung up, the pendulum flashing yellow. Knuckles threw himself forward desperately, across the stick, electric tentacles. The tail lashed down and hissed through several tentacles, struck the point where Knuckles had been, then pulled back. The tentacles contracted, the bulb swelled out, and once more the scorpion stood there. 

"You deserved everything Sonic gave you," Knuckles snarled, shaken. He snatched up one of the few bombs left, dashed forward and flung it into Chaos's mouth. Ice statue, shatter, reform. 

Knuckles leaped, glided across the broken floor panel, grabbed the last ice bomb, and threw that to the monster, too. Ice statue, shatter ... but there was no reformation. The ice shards melted naturally, and lying in their midst were the six chaos emeralds. 

Expecting a trap, Knuckles crept toward the emeralds. Nothing happened. He dashed like mad across the area, scooped up the emeralds, shoved them in his bag and retreated. Still nothing happened. A slow realization crept over Knuckles. "I killed him!" he said in wonder. "Now, how does a beast so powerful succumb to me ...?" 

The Egg Carrier suddenly pitched to one side, and an explosion ripped through the forward hull. Knuckles ducked the raining fragments and ran for the edge of the ship. "Time to abandon Carrier," he thought. "And good riddance, Chaos!" 

And so the echidna glided away from the falling fortress, the last of the Mobians to escape. Before it had faded from sight behind him, another explosion tore through the lower section, and the Carrier fell, tail first, toward the ocean far below. 

But that was not the end of the Egg Carrier, nor of Chaos.


	24. On land but far from done

Robotnik's hovercraft bucked and jerked as Sonic flung himself about. His red sneakers struck the hoverjets beneath over and over, trying to short them out. Robotnik himself was trying to steer and balance the ship at the same time. They were somewhere over and, near the Mystic Ruins. Trees carpeted the ground below for miles in every direction, and they were perhaps twenty feet above the treetops. "C'mon, fight!" Sonic was snarling. "Don't send your pets to do it! Right here, right now, you and me!" 

Robotnik cringed away from the hedgehog. When it came down to it, he preferred to let a machine face Sonic--he was a coward at heart. But even fearing his enemy as he did, Robotnik had not lost his wits. He clenched his iron hand into a fist, turned and slammed it down on Sonic's fingers on the edge of the hovercraft. Sonic gave a yelp and let go with one hand. Before he could take fresh hold, Robotnik smashed his other hand. The hedgehog gave a diminishing wail as he dropped. There was a smashing in the trees below, then silence. Robotnik made for Sapphire City at once. 

* * *

Knuckles reverently placed the last chunk into the Master's emeralds side. It fused into place at once, and there sat the emerald, whole once more. 

The island lurched, swayed slightly, and rose smoothly into the sky. The ocean poured from its underside and churned in waves below. Slowly the island soared into he evening sky, Knuckles driving triumphantly. He had repaired the Master emerald, and arranged in a semi-circle on the stone around it were the six chaos emeralds. Where the seventh was, he had no idea, but it didn't matter much. Chaos was defeated, the Egg Carrier had crashed, and things were all right again. Everyone had made it to shore (he guessed), and he was reconciled with Sonic. What more could happen? 

He sat and watched the sun set over the rim of the island. They were airborne once more. As far as he knew or cared, his adventure was over. 

But nine days later, he would look back on that peaceful evening and say, "Knuckles, you're a naive fool." 

* * *

Big the Cat and Froggy had made it ashore half an hour earlier. They hiked back to Big's little shack, Froggy hopping cheerfully, Big carrying his fishing pole over one shoulder and the Tornado over the other. The plane had gotten a bit dented upon landing, bit it probably still worked. Big decided that he would take it back with him for safekeeping, and later, take it to Mac at the Mystic Ruins airstrip as a gift. 

Nine days later, Big would wish guiltily that he had never set eyes on that plane. 

* * *

E-102 Gamma had flown near Amy and Tails until the mainland was in sight. When they made for Station Square, he veered away to go to the Mystic Ruins. 

He flew steadily, unheedful of the wind that buffeted him, or of the fitful rain that pounded his hull. He was, in a sense, thinking things over. Semi-free will was a dangerous gift for his master to bestow upon him. 

His first vision of Robotnik's face blinked across his screen. Master. This was followed by the image of the rebuilt Beta in the construction chamber. Beta had been used as a test unit, simply because he lost a silly fight. 

Again Robotnik's face appeared. But he was Master. He had built the robots. He could do what he liked with them. 

The image of the blue robot, Delta, as he looked helplessly at Gamma as Mecha beamed them up. Epsilon and Zeta, too. But Master--Master had handed them over to Metal Sonic. Master could do what he liked. 

Amy's face as she peered up at Gamma after the fight. "You're too nice to work for Robotnik. You should leave and do something else." 

Gamma had disobeyed orders by releasing her. Why had he disobeyed orders? The picture of the little green bird sprang to mind. Because that bird ... was named Cirrus. The memory of the creature in his hull connected with his computer memory. Suddenly Gamma was wider awake than he had ever been. He had disobeyed because Master was WRONG. If Gamma had brought Master the bird, Master would not only have taken the emerald, he would have robotized him. "As ... I ... am," the robot said aloud, with difficulty. 

Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta. His kind. 

Robotnik's face appeared in shades of red. "Master registration, deleted," Gamma droned into the quiet air. "Dr. Robotnik--enemy. E-series, friends. Must save." 

The robot landed awkwardly on the level ground near the train station in Mystic Ruins. His left leg remained twisted sideways from Sonic's attack, and his internal systems could not repair it. His other hardware, however, was stabilized and working properly. Here he was. He had not always been a robot. He knew that much. What he had been before, he didn't remember, but he knew that the other E-series were in the same plight as he was. To free them, he must destroy their robot shapes. 

Gamma stood on his good leg and swept the area with radar. Only Metal Sonic knew where the E-series had gone after beaming out, but the teleporters only had a ranger of fifty miles. Mecha probably would not have dumped them in the ocean--he was too malicious for that. No, there was a good chance that the E-series were somewhere on the coast. 

A blip appeared on the robot's screen, two miles distant, southward. Bingo. Gamma did a terrain scan. The blip could be reached by going to a nearby cave, flying up the tunnel within, and entering the canyon in the mountains on the other side. 

The robot limped toward the windy cave as sunset colored the sky. 

* * *

Tails and Amy landed in Station Square wearily, the flicky trailing behind. "See ya, Amy," Tails said with a little wave. 

"Bye, Tails," Amy replied, waving back as the fox trotted away across the square. "He's cute," the pink hedgehog commented to Birdy as he landed on her shoulder. "I still think Sonic is cuter, thought." She yawned. "Boy, I'm tired. Let's go home. I've had enough of nasty robots for one day." 

Birdy nodded his little head--he was tired and hungry. As he did, the rays of the sinking sun touched the small trinket hanging from his neck. Amy noticed it for the first time and stopped. "What's this?" she asked, touching it. The flicky chirped, caught it in his beak and held it toward her. 

Amy seated herself on a bench outside the train station and looked closely at it. It was a heart-shaped locket; an odd thing for a bird to wear. She opened it. Inside was a tiny photo of her flicky, but beside him were two others--a grey one and a pink one. "Oh!" Amy exclaimed, understanding immediately. "Are they your mom and dad?" 

Birdy nodded, wings and tail drooping. 

"Where are they?" 

Birdy only looked dumbly at Amy, and she thought she understood. "Oh, how awful! Robotnik got them, didn't he?" 

Birdy nodded. 

Amy frowned as she looked at her little companion. If only he could talk! She had no idea where to start looking. "Well," she said sensibly, "I need to go home and eat dinner and tell Mom where I've been." Amy was always making up some imaginary adventure and telling her mother about it, so word of being kidnapped and take to the Egg Carrier would be nothing new. "And maybe we can think of some way to rescue your family." Amy glanced toward the Sunset Hotel and thought briefly of the chao, but decided it was too late to see them, anyway. She set out at a trot for home.


	25. Tails and the missile

Tails was not as weary as Amy from the day's adventures. He was the Freedom Fighter, and what was more, Sonic's sidekick. He was hungry, but not tired. 

The fox was mindlessly munching his way through a cheeseburger and a box of cheese fries, sitting at a picnic table behind the hotel, when his sensitive ears detected something odd. He straightened and looked about. That was the sound of Robotnik's hovercraft, or he was a hedgehog. His searching ears drew his eyes around to the south. The hovercraft was not far away, now, and it seemed to be having engine trouble. Tails crammed the rest of his burger in his mouth and made for the street at a run. 

He was just in time to see the hovercraft careen into the square, strike the asphalt and bounce onto the sidewalk, one engine dead and the other sputtering. Carefully, Tails circled until he could see Robotnik. 

Robotnik was slumped in the tilted cockpit, breathing heavily but not moving. Tails inched a bit closer and pricked up his ears. The doctor was muttering aloud now. "I'm ruined. Chaos was defeated and my Egg Carrier is destroyed." A grim, snarling smirk contorted Robotnik's features. "But I will destroy Sapphire City anyway." He struggled to start his engines, and managed to limp he hovercraft across the road to the beach. Unnoticed, Tails followed him. Robotnik's words had turned the food in his stomach to rock. 

Robotnik said something into his radio that Tails didn't catch. Tails stood and looked at the ocean, following his enemy's gaze. "Where's Sonic?" the fox thought suddenly. "Last I saw he was going to stop Eggman!" The thought of Chaos flashed through his head, green-eyed and hungry. Tails stopped that train of thought before it went any further--he had enough to scare him right here without that, too. 

But there was no time to worry about Sonic. Out in the bay there was a splash, and a missile emerged from the water and roared skyward. Tails cringed and watched it shrink to a fiery dot, a line of smoke in its wake. He looked about him. Humans around the square were shading their eyes and watching the missile scream away. Tails looked back at Robotnik to see the doctor lower a glass canopy over cockpit and activate a sputtering green forecfield, like a bubble around the hovercraft. Tails looked up at the missile, then at Robotnik again. He would kill everyone--for what? To make a point? To soothe his injured pride? Revenge for the Egg Carrier's demise? 

Tails ran away a few steps, then returned. Where could he possibly go? If the missile could wipe out a whole city, it must be nuclear or something and there was no way he or anyone else could escape. 

* * *

"Oh, I hate that Eggman!" Sonic snarled to himself, brushing leaves and twigs from his fur. He pulled off his gloves and examined his fingers--they were bruised, but not broken. He tossed a poisonous glance upward, although Robotnik's hovercraft had already departed, and set out westward. If he could get to the coast he could figure out where he was, and take the train back to Station Square. Hopefully Amy and Tails had made it. 

The woods were dark with the coming of evening, and the occasional orange beam slanted through the leaves like lasers. Sonic was idly wondering what a world would be like if its sun only emitted infrared light, when something flashed off to his left. He looked about and stopped. There was a little pink ball of light hovering several yards away. As he looked at it, it darted away a few feet and stopped, as if it wanted him to follow it. Sonic, still in a sour mood, only sneered. "Like I'm gonna up and follow any stupid lightbulb that crosses my path. It's probably some booby trap." He made as though to walk on, but the light flew up to him, then away again in the same direction, south. He pretended to pay no attention. Again it flew to him, and this time a thin, distant female voice said, "Please come with me! The fate of Mobius is at stake!" 

The hedgehog glared at the light. "Oh, so you're a fairy or something, right? I guess I could come with you ... for a little way. If you lead me to some trap, I will personally take a stick and knock your light out." Could you do that to a fairy? He wasn't sure, but his bluff seemed to work. "Just come," she said. 

Sonic turned aside and followed the light. 

* * *

The missile was coming down now. People were beginning to panic and rush about. Tails could hear sirens in the distance. But he only sat on the sidewalk, eyes skyward. He had a calm feeling of unreality--this couldn't really be happening. It was too impossible. He was dreaming or something--and yet that missile kept coming, a spurt of flame in the sky. Tails watched it indifferently. He couldn't stop it. Only Hyper Sonic, maybe, could stop it, and Sonic wasn't here, nor did he have his belt with him. 

Now it was overhead, now it streaked down like a deadly dart into the heart of the city. Tails cringed and waited. The smoke from the missile thinned and drifted away. Minutes passed. Nothing happened. "Wasn't it supposed to blow up?" Tails murmured with a sense of anticlimax, looking questioningly toward Robotnik. 

Robotnik seemed as confused as Tails at first; then he became angry. He deactivated his shield and retracted his canopy with the words, "It was a dud! I don't believe this! Mecha, when I get my hands on you ..." He revved his engines and flew up the street to the Speed Highway lift. Tails followed him, the delayed fear hitting him in a rush and weakening his knees. He stopped and leaned weakly against the side of the lift building, lightheaded and sick. 

Through the ringing in his ears, the fox heard Robotnik growl, "I'll just have to detonated it myself. I can arm it from a distance ..." He rammed his hovercraft through the protective door and vanished into the darkness inside. 

Tails leaped inside just as the lift began to rise and crouched in a corner, hoping Robotnik wouldn't notice him. He had to beat the madman to the missile or that would be the end! 

The detached feeling had left him, and his senses had sharpened acutely. The ridged metal floor beneath his hands and feet--the rattle of the lift--the glow of the hovercraft's engines and cockpit in the dimness--the smell of exhaust--this was real. 

The lift stopped, the door opened. Before them spread the cityscape under the glow of the setting sun, the suspended highway stretched away into the distance. A mile away, its nose buried in the roof and side of a sky scraper, was the missile. Robotnik's ship cruised onto the track, and Tails followed. 

For the first time the doctor saw his little shadow. "Well well, if it isn't Tails!" he said, slowing and looking back. "Where's your big brother, Sonic?" 

Tails drew himself up. "You're not going to detonate that missile." 

"And whose going to stop me? YOU?" Robotnik cackled at the absurdity of it. "You think you can keep up with me? Let's see you try!" He roared away down the highway, and Tails followed at a run.


	26. Unwilling adventurers

E-102 Gamma stood on the wide ledge in the Windy Valley canyon, weary as only a robot could be. Delta, the blue robot, stood on a ledge a little ways off, completely unaware of Gamma. Gamma did not want to destroy him. Delta had been his friend. But he knew he must, and the thought of a fight wearied the mind of the creature in his hull. 

Gamma activated his hoverjet and flew slowly to Delta's ledge. Delta heard him and turned. "Gamma!" he exclaimed as the red robot landed and staggered on his bad leg. 

"Greetings, Delta," Gamma said quietly. 

"How goes it?" asked Delta. "Has Master sent you to return me to the Egg Carrier? I knew I wouldn't be forgotten forever--" 

"No, Delta," Gamma interrupted, still speaking softly. "Master did not send me." 

Delta looked at his brother-robot in bewilderment. "Does not compute. Why are you here?" As he spoke, Delta swept Gamma's mainframe with a scan. Then he stepped back a pace and lifted his guns defensively. "Gamma ... you have malfunctioned. You have REVOLTED!" 

"Affirmative." 

"Then ... I shall have to destroy you," Delta said, robot voice dropping to a near-whisper. "I'm sorry." 

"And I must destroy you," Gamma replied, quietly. "I do not wish to." 

"Nor I," said Delta. "Why must you rebel? Why don't you revert your programming to default?" 

"Because I do not wish to. Master is wrong. You will understand soon." 

Delta stood in silence for a moment, arms at his sides and green eyes on the ground. After a moment he straightened and lifted his guns again. "Then let us begin." 

Delta fired two rockets. Gamma caught them in midair with his tag laser and blew them up with two well-aimed shots. Another shot struck Delta's midsection and knocked him to the ground. The blue robot climbed to his feet immediately and fired again. Again Gamma intercepted his rockets, and struck Delta. 

Sparking, Delta stared forward. Gamma limped backward, swept his opponent with his tag laser and fired. Delta fired, got up and fired again. Gamma dodged and blocked, then his his former friend with three shots in quick succession. 

Delta fell for the last time and did not move again. The engines in his back were afire now. Gamma only stood and looked on in numb grief. He had done his duty. 

The blue robot's head unscrewed, and from out of the compartment beneath struggled a blue flicky. It lay panting on the grass for a moment, then stood, flew up and hovered before Gamma. "Gamma! Thank you so much. You were right--I understand now. But how you figured it out, I have no idea." His voice was a lot like Delta's voice, but without the robot overtone. Gamma only looked at the bird silently. "Don't worry, Gamma," said the bird who had been Delta. "I'll find a way to get you out of there, somehow." He circled the red robot, then flew back in front of his eyes. "Epsilon is in Red Mountain, at the end of the Windy Canyon. We contacted each other after we landed. He's more mechanical-minded than I am--he might had an idea for freeing you." 

"Affirmative, Delta," said Gamma. 

The bird laughed. "I'm not Delta anymore. I'm Gust. Thanks again for freeing me." And he was gone with a flutter of wings. 

Gamma gazed after him sadly. A few feet away lay the burned hulk that had once been the robot. But Delta was no more. The flicky that had given him life was free at last. Again the creature in Gamma's hull struggled to remember its past life, but the robot programming clamped down on its mind. Gamma could still not remember who or what he was. 

Enough of this. He must find Epsilon. Gamma fired up his hoverjet and flew away down the canyon as evening deepened about him. 

* * *

Tails was running as fast as his feet could take him, breath coming quick and easy. The road curved just ahead and doubled back--he would lose ground to the hovercraft that was on the next highway over. Instead of taking the turn, Tails leaped off the edge, tails spinning like helicopter rotors, and clapped his heels together. His anklets shot him forward. Vast empty space below, skyscraper looming up ahead, it's top somewhere in the sky above. Tails swerved to avoid it, saw a highway that travelled in the general direction of the missile, landed on it and ran again. Robotnik was somewhere to his far right. Tails could only hope the doctor had not gotten ahead. 

Flashing lights, orange cones, workmen. Road Closed. Tails again took to the air and shot over the road construction half a mile above the city streets, landed on the other side and was away again. Where was Robotnik? Tails wondered it he dare think he had passed the hovercraft and could relax his frenzied pace a little. Something told him not to stop until he reached that missile, or Robotnik would have his head. A stitch was beginning to develop in the fox's side. He pressed a hand into it to ease the cramp and moaned, "Oh Sonic, if only you were here!" 

* * *

Sonic was far from Sapphire City, following a little pink light through the woods. 

She led him swiftly, southward and a little eastward. Sonic followed as best as he could, his quick motion upsetting his bruised midsection and laser-burn; often he paused for breath, which was not like him. But the pain only angered him and made him all the more determined to follow the ball of light. 

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the brown shadows turned blue, the jungle ended at last, and Sonic stepped through the ruins of a stone wall and stood looking up at the pyramid Knuckles had discovered. "Where's this?" the hedgehog panted. "I didn't hear about a pyramid! Cool!" 

As he looked, a rumbling as of ancient machinery began somewhere inside the pyramid, and the top half began to vibrate. Slowly, heavily, the stone began to rise. The top half of the sneak head that had been resting on the tier below began to inch upward. Sonic folded his arms and watched. He had seen a pyramid do almost the same thing--years ago in Sandopolis on the Floating Island. This pyramid was obviously of Echidnaopean origin, as echidna were carved profusely all over it. And so were snakes. 

The pyramid rose, groaning and grinding, until an entire tier was added to its height, and the snake head had rose to form the top jaw of a yawning entrance--then the sound and motion ceased. "Impressive," Sonic said to the twilight, obviously unmoved. "Most impressive. Can I go home now?" 

But the pink light had other ideas. It appeared out of nowhere and floated through the dark entrance. Sonic shook his head. "Like I'm just going to head into some strange pyramid that opens up in front of me. I did that once and almost got killed. Forget it." 

He turned as though to walk away, but the light flew after him with the words, "You MUST enter! If you do not, Chaos will destroy us all!" 

Sonic stopped and turned back. "Chaos?" He looked at the light, then up at the awaiting pyramid. He sighed and drooped, feeling as he had the night he took Amy to Twinkle Park. "Fine," he said wearily. "Lead the way." 

* * *

Tails leaped desperately across empty space, landed in a tumble on the solid highway, jumped to his feet and was away, heart in his mouth. Robotnik had taken a shortcut somewhere and had appeared unexpectedly some twenty feet behind Tails. Tails had been lagging somewhat, trying to regain some breath, but the sight of Robotnik sent him into a wild sprint. 

The missile was so close--but there was only one road that led up to it, and Tails couldn't seem to reach it. The best he could do was reach a road that went under the higher one. Tails paused below it and looked back. Robotnik was coming. It was now or never. The fox sump his tails, activated his anklets and shot into the darkening sky. "You little fox," he heard Robotnik snarl venomously from below. 

Tails caught ahold of the highway edge just as his strength was about to give out and heaved himself up. He lay on his back, gasping, for a few seconds, then climbed to his feet and dashed to the missile. 

How in the world did you defuse a missile? The fox's mind spun, trying to remember if he had ever read anything on the subject. It seemed that there were a certain number of wires to cut, but he didn't remember where they were located ... 

It loomed up like a sewerpipe with tail fins, a giant Robotnik face painted on it. Smaller in size, but everywhere were yellow and black stickers bearing the 'radioactive' symbol. Tails halted and gulped. He had been right--it was a nuke. No way was he going to try to defuse a nuke--he would probably detonate it by accident. Then--plooie--that would be the end of Sapphire City, Robotnik, Amy, Tails-- 

Windows opened in the damaged building above, people leaned out. Tails looked up at them. "What are you doing?" they yelled. 

"I've got to stop Robotnik before he blows up the missile!" Tails cried. He looked at the bulk of the thing--it had to be fifteen feet long-- 

Suddenly he yelled, "Do you have a radar jammer?" He had heard that humans used low-key devices like jammers to detect and block police radar. 

"Right here!" someone yelled. 

"Turn it on full blast and throw it to me!" Tails called. 

A woman pulled out a small object like a phone, clicked it on and dropped it. The fox caught it, ran to the missile and set it against it. 

Thus Tails's blocked Robotnik's signal to the bomb. 

Robotnik did not see what Tails had done until he drew closer and recognized the object in the fox's hand. "So, you beat me to the missile, you little pest," he hissed. He halted his hovercraft and sat idling. "But you'll pay. You'll all pay." He whipped his ship about, shot off the roadway and down toward the streets below. Tails left the jammer by the missile, spun his tails, and parachuted down after him in triumph. Sonic never let Robotnik go until he was thoroughly whipped, and Tails intended to do the same.


	27. Snakes and Tails's battle

E-102 Gamma stood in the mouth of a vast cave in the cliffs of Red Mountain. The light had nearly gone from the sky outside, and all was dark in the cave but for the vast, boiling pit of lava in the floor. Gamma's night-vision sensors activated. The interior of the cave appeared in shades of green--a rocky, pillared cavern. The floor was uneven, broken into jagged slabs by the magma beneath. 

Standing alone in the far corner of the cave was E-104 Epsilon. 

He saw Gamma as soon as Gamma saw him. Like Delta, he was lonely so far from familiar surroundings, but unlike Delta, he had no hope of ever returning. He did not greet his old companion; he only watched in silence as Gamma limped and struggled over the jagged floor toward him. 

Scratched and sparking a little from a hard fall, Gamma stepped onto the wide, even shelf where Epsilon was posted. "Greetings, Epsilon." 

The orange robot did not reply for a moment. Then he said, "Scans detect enemy unit. Destroy." 

A battle ensued. Delta had only attacked half-heartedly, but Epsilon had not the feelings and intelligence of his brother robot, and so thought nothing of destroying Gamma. 

Gamma took two hits in the course of the fight, unable to sidestep them with his twisted leg. But Epsilon took many more, and finally he fell, in a sparking, smouldering heap on the stone floor. 

The flicky inside Epsilon had trouble getting out. Gamma could hear it squeaking in determination as it struggled inside the hull. Gamma set a foot on Epsilon's hull and tugged the head with his hand. Presently it tore off part way--Gamma was strong--and an orange flicky bounded out and sat shivering on the floor. After a minute its trembling subsided, and it looked up at Gamma. But his reaction to freedom was the opposite of Delta's. 

"Curse you, Gamma! I liked being a robot! I should have destroyed you while I had the chance!" With that, the flicky who had been Epsilon whirled and flew out of the cave. 

* * *

"I hate snakes," Sonic said theatrically. 

The little pink light had led him deep into the pyramid, down winding columns of stone stairs, through cold, dark halls of resounding echoes, and along a long aisle of stone serpent heads, whose jaws ignited as torches as his feet passed over pressure plates in the floor. 

Everywhere were carvings of echidnas in faded murals, carvings of snakes (which they seemed to have worshiped at this particular period), carvings of gods and demigods, and depictions of bloody wars and ruling tyrants. The style was not wholly alien to Sonic's hedgehog eyes; he had seen similar art on the Floating Island. What it meant he could only guess, and wished Knuckles was at his side to explain everything. One thing slowly became clear to the lonely visitor--the echidnas had built more extensively on the mainland than on their island. 

But now the hedgehog found himself in a vast, dome-roofed room, perfectly round. In the center of this room was a huge pool with three pillars standing in it--they reached nearly to the roof high above--and something was moving in the pool. 

Hesitantly Sonic tiptoed to the edge of the pool. This had something to do with Chaos, after all; there was no telling what he might find. He gathered his courage and looked in. Immediately he sprang back, heart racing. It was a huge snake! It was as big as a rollercoaster train, and it was swimming round and round. Sonic fled for the door he had entered through, but found to his horror a solid stone door had closed over it. He stood with his back against it, gasping. When would that snake rear its ugly head and come slithering after him ...? It was big enough to swallow him whole--no, himself and Tails and Knuckles all together in one gulp! 

Presently it came to him that he had been standing there for some minutes, and nothing had happened. Heart pounding in his temples and the ends of his fingers, he moved forward a few steps. Nothing. Perhaps he could take another look without it seeing him. Yeah, right. 

The terrified hedgehog inched forward, every sine on his body erect and tense, stomach beginning to ache painfully. Ages it seemed to take to cross the fifteen feet between himself and the edge of the pool. The room was perfectly silent but for the thundering of his heart and a soft, almost imperceptible swish of water as the serpent swam. He pulled himself to the low wall that encircled the pool and crouched behind it, allowing himself to breathe. Nothing had happened yet. He sat there a moment, sweating and throbbing with adrenaline in every limb, then held his breath and slowly--ever so slowly--peeked into the pool. 

It swam, green eyes staring from its cold face, in circles, around the three pillars, in, out, now diving under for a space, now emerging. Always it swam in the same pattern. Sonic ducked every time it passed, but it never saw him. Finally, after some ten steady cycles, Sonic began to look more closely as its scaly sides passed. To his sudden chagrin and relief, he realized the snake was carved out of stone. Its fluid grace was allowed by its multiple jointed sections, like beads strung together. But how did it swim? 

Sonic sat openly on the edge of the pool and looked at the snake. Was it his imagination, or could he hear machinery running inside it? And there was something funny about the way it circled those pillars, too, like they guided it somehow. 

Yes, it was plainly some robotic creation of the ancient echidnas--why hadn't he seen that right away? And how could a snake stay alive in a pyramid miles underground for thousands of years, anyway? He laughed out loud at himself. 

He slid off the lip of the pool and began to explore the room more thoroughly. Now that he was not afraid, he saw that there were three spotlights in the ceiling that picked out three spots in the room. Two were on ledges along the walls higher up, and one was down near him. Sonic found the first light was shining on a blue square plate in the floor. He stepped on it. Nothing happened. "Musta been a dud," the hedgehog muttered. "Where'd that fairy go, anyway?" He looked around for her, but she had vanished. 

On wandering forlornly back to the entry door, the hedgehog came upon a round blue button on the wall. Experimentally he pressed it. 

There came a deep rumbled from beneath the floor, and the snake pool overflowed its banks and began to flood the room. "Oh great," Sonic muttered as the water swirled about his ankles, then his knees. "Sonic, you've done it now." He began to tread water, as slowly the surface level raised to the next lowest ledge on the walls, and there it stopped. 

He crawled up on the ledge, shook the water from his ears and looked about. Surprise surprise, the swimming snake had come up, too, easily readjusting to its new height. Sonic looked around the room, especially upwards. The next beam of light shown on a plate across the room, on level with him, and on the third and final level was a broad ledge with a closed door. Above it were three panels--one was blue, one green and one red. The blue one was glowing. 

The hedgehog saw the solution to the puzzle at once. The plate he thought was a dud had actually activated a three-part door lock. The other two parts could only be reached by raising the water level, and instead of swimming across the room, one could use that swimming snake as a stepping stone. 

"Hedgehog, you are too smart for words," Sonic said smugly, and stepped onto the snake's back as it passed. 

* * *

"It's Robotnik!" 

"Let's get out of here!" 

Shrieks and cries of fear filled the streets as cars were vacated, people swarmed out of shops, and a flood of humanity fled the scene. 

Robotnik had reached the street below a few minutes before Tails had. When Tails landed, at first he was confused--the hovercraft had vanished. As he stood there, straining to listen through the city noise, he heard a distant clanking sound. Tails felt his stomach twist and bit his lip to keep from screaming. 

The machine stepped over a video store and into the street. The little hovercraft now had four jointed robotic legs. Extended in front, like the head of the monster, were three gun barrels. The machine stood at least eighteen feet high. 

The citizens of the city recognized Robotnik and his machine. They fled in terror, save a few brave reporters who hid indoors and peeked through their cameras in the windows. 

Robotnik leaned out of his chair and leered down at Tails, small and alone but standing his ground. "You little fool," the doctor breathed, radiating malicious hatred at every word. "Away, before I make mincemeat out of you." If he had spoken so to Sonic, the hedgehog would have laughed in his face, and Tails would have echoed him, secure in the knowledge that Robotnik had never yet beat Sonic in a fair fight. But Tails was missing his hero, and was deathly afraid of what Robotnik might do. He gulped. He was the only one who stood between Robotnik and the ruin of Sapphire City. "I'm not scared," he said in a small voice. 

The Egg Walker stepped forward like a long-legged spider, and aimed one of its monstrous weapons at Tails. The fox fled as a tongue of flame spouted forth with a whoosh and blackened a section of pavement. But Tails did not run away--not yet. He returned to face Robotnik with what shreds of nerve he had left, and again planted himself before the Egg Walker. 

The ship sprang forward with shocking speed and pounded its forefeet against the ground, as if it were a horse killing a snake. Instead of being trampled to death, however, Tails leaped under the ship, barely out of reach of the stamping feet. As he huddled there, momentarily out of his enemy's sight and numb with terror, he happened to glance down and catch sight of the little purple medal clipped to his chest. Like the faint memory of a dream, Tikal's voice echoed in his mind. "This is the rhythm badge. It's to remind you of your new move." 

The fear did not vanish. Tails thought afterward that he had never been more scared in his life. But he was no longer weaponless. 

The stamping feet stopped, all four on the ground as Robotnik looked about for his little victim. Tails whirled, went into his twirling spin and slashed the right fore-foot. 

The robot staggered and stumbled sideways. Tails leaped and spun himself into the joint that connected the damaged leg to the hovercraft's body. The whole frame jolted. Robotnik cured. The walker regained its feet and sprang away like a monstrous crab. It halted some distance down the street and turned again to face Tails. The fox anticipated the jet of roaring flame, and flung himself behind a parked car. "I've gotta take out the feet," he told himself over and over. 

Three reporters peeked out at the scene, trembling with fear lest they be discovered, but frantically scribbling notes all the while. (They dared not take pictures for fear of the camera flashes attracting attention.) They looked on as the young fox ducked between the heavy feet again and again, knocked them out from under the ship and tore at the joints with his spinning tails when they fell within reach. 

"How long do you think the kid'll last?" one reporter whispered to the others. 

"Not long," one whispered back. "My guess is we'll be out there soon enough photographing roadkill." 

"You never can tell with these Mobians," the third whispered. "Especially the Northies that remember the war." 

"Well, I'd rather stay away from the Mobians," the first said. "They've given us trouble before. Ooo, the kid nearly ate it that time!" 

"So did that contraption. Look how slow it gets up! 'Fox defeats Dr. Robotnik'!" 

"Not yet he hasn't. Hey, he's got two tails! Look--see 'em?" 

Muffled exclamations of surprise. More scribbling of notes. 

"My kids'll love this." 

"Look at him go! What's he got, jet boots?" 

"I don't think so." 

"All right! The machine's down again! I wish I had more film--" 

"Duck!" 

The three men ducked as the Egg Walker's fuel tanks exploded, blowing out the glass in the storefronts up and down the street. Presently the flames died down a bit, and the three poked their heads up for a look around. The Walker's hull stood inert and dead in the street, engulfed in flames. The heart of it--the hovercraft--was gone. Robotnik had already fled. 

Tails picked himself up off the pavement and blinked at the bonfire. The force of the blast had knocked him down, and the side of his head had slapped the corner of a fender. He touched the bump--it had a small cut on it. Other than that, he was unhurt. 

He grinned suddenly. "I did it!" he exclaimed. "I did it all by myself!" 

Three white flashes in quick succession. The fox turned to see three reporters in various poses with their cameras. 

The reporters received more than enough story information from Tails, most of which they didn't understand. Now that relief had set in, Tails was positively chatty. He told them about racing Robotnik to the missile, and the Egg Walker, and Tikal, and his jet anklets, and his two tails, and Sonic, and everything else he could think of. 

By morning he was a celebrity; word of his bravery spread through the city like wildfire. Even as Tails crawled into bed in the Sunset Resort, the reporters' stories hit the newspapers. 

* * *

"Tails is a hero?" Amy said. 

The bedraggled pink hedgehog stood on the sidewalk, staring at the headlines in the newspaper stands. 

"Mobian Saves Sapphire City!" 

"Tails Prower local hero, Egg Walker defeated!" 

"Freedom Fighter Faces Foe!" 

Amy lifted a grimy hand to her eyes. "Birdy, I need to sit down somewhere." 

She seated herself on the curb and cradled her head in her hands. The green flicky sat beside her anxiously. 

The two had spent most of the night, not in a house in bed, where Amy should have been, but in the Final Egg ground base, deep in the Mystic Ruins. Amy had recalled Gamma's words--"We will be arriving in the Mystic Ruins base soon."--and set off to find it in the hopes of locating Birdy's parents. 

She had spent the night wandering in the depths of the mighty fortress, looking for prisoners and robots that might be flickies in disguise. But all the robots she had seen were hulking, fearsome things that had tried to catch her as soon as they saw her. The worst of all was Zero, the robot who had kidnapped her the day before and chased her through the Hot Shelter. He had appeared suddenly behind her in a hallway, recognized her, and spent the rest of the night chasing her. 

As dawn began to brighten the sky, Amy found the exit lift and rode it up to the glass tunnel, limp with exhaustion and relief. And to her infinite humiliation, as she neared the door at the far end, it opened, and in stepped Sonic. 

He looked as bad as she felt. His fur and spines were stained with mud, and his shoes and gloves were damp and dirty. "Amy!" he said in fury as she dashed to him. 

"Sonic, I'm so glad to see you--what's wrong?" 

"What's wrong?" the blue hedgehog snarled. "This is too dangerous a place for you! Get out of here!" He opened the door and stood aside for her to pass. She did, feeling very young and stupid. "Stay in Sapphire City!" Sonic said as she stepped outside, not even pretending to be nice. "The last thing I need is a little whiny brat following me around. Get lost." 

The door shut between them, leaving Amy standing in the grass with her mouth open. "He called me a whiny brat!" She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She settled for the latter, as it was the easiest. 

She cried all the way back to Station Square, which left her hot and tired. On top of the night's adventures, the headlines proclaiming Tails's heroism were a bit too much for her to grasp. "Let's go home, Birdy," Amy said. "Sorry I'm such a wimp, but I can't face anything else right now. Hope you understand." 

The flicky nodded sympathetically. He had thought she was overdoing it, and he was right.


	28. Sonic and Tikal

But if Amy had known the horrendous things Sonic had just seen, perhaps she would have forgiven him his sharp tongue. 

After escaping from the Anaconda room, the hedgehog found himself in a room of total darkness, but for great torches burning here and there behind reflective mirrors. The he was able to move this way and that until their beams shown onto nearby polished mirrors, which reflected the light to light part of the room. By this partial light the hedgehog ventured out upon the narrow stone walkway that stood twenty feet out of the dark water. When he had passed out of the light and was beginning to grope his way forward, his fingers encountered the back of another torch reflector, and so on all the way across the room. 

Here he found an excellent use for his shoes. 

The walkway ended some fifty feet from the wall, where he could see a doorway leading on into the pyramid. He cast about for a bridge or something, but if there had been one, it had crumbled long ago, and there was nothing below him but sullen black water. Jumping into it would do no good, for there was no way back up that he could see. 

Just as he was about to despair and turn back, the pink fairy-light appeared again. "Jump across," she said to him. "You can make it." 

Sonic looked at the wide expanse between himself and the far wall. "Yeah right, I'm not that stupid." 

"You can do it," she insisted. "Have you forgotten your shoes?" 

Well, actually, he had, but he wasn't about to admit it aloud. "What about them?" 

"Use them." 

"Use them?" he spluttered. "How am I supposed to use them? Throw them across?" He trailed off. An idea had come to him. He threw himself into a stationary spindash and whirled like a wheel. His heels began to glow. After a moment, Sonic landed on his feet and raced off the edge of the walkway. 

The energy stored in his shoes was released in a burst of power that flung the hedgehog across the gap, through the doorway and down the hall beyond before it gave out. He stopped and stood a moment, panting and grinning to himself. Those shoes HAD been worth 250 bucks, after all! 

He encountered other obstacles and traps as he travelled on. He fled down a long sloping passageway as a monstrous boulder soaked in flame tumbled after him. He leaped into a doorway at last and watched as it rumbled by and smashed into the wall far below. 

He dropped into a shallow, swift-flowing water channel and slid down on the slick floor as if it were a waterslide, finally shooting out into a hidden glade deep in the jungle. It was night now, the stars overhead glimmering down like white jewels. Sonic stood looking at them for a moment, wishing he were standing outside his hut in Knothole, instead of lost in an old maze built by a bunch of dead guys. 

The fairy led him into a stone passageway in a cliff wall a short distance off, and the hedgehog was away again. 

He came to a vast square room lit with hundreds of torches, and with doorways at all heights in the towering walls. He did not know that a day or two before, Knuckles had stood in this same room and gazed with similar bewilderment at the doors high above. But the fairy showed Sonic a different route through. By pressing a large switch on the wall, an entire row of dark blue panels moved across the wall, grating like dragged bricks, and formed a line up the wall. Sonic approached curiously and touched one. It had a weird feeling an inch away, as if a huge amount of electricity were flowing over the surface of the tiles. Sonic lifted a foot and walked straight up the panels. It was the stationary mechanism used in the spinning top in Marble Gardens. 

The hedgehog followed these panels all over the room, often stepping into one of the now-accessible doorways to press a button that realigned the panels, and again off he went. 

At last the fairy led him through a high doorway, down a long flight of stairs, and into a long hall flanked with engraved pillars, and shallow pools on either side. Sonic walked through, taking his time, looking at everything. He sensed this was a sacred place of some sort--perhaps a temple or a shrine. The carved figures on the pillars stared at him with glittering jeweled eyes, seeming to question his presence and were not pleased. 

As the hedgehog passed along the walkway, the water on his left rippled as if something had disturbed the surface. Sonic didn't notice it at first, but after a few more feet he heard the faintest whisper of sound. He turned. The water just opposite him was rippling steadily, as if something were tapping the surface. But there was nothing there. 

Sonic felt the spines on the back of his neck prickle. He turned and fled toward the end of the room, where the fairy was waiting for him. This was unlike seeing the stone snake. This time there was noting to see but the water, and yet there was something in the water he could not see. 

Spooked and nervous, it took him several minutes to notice the mural on the wall a few feet above him. He glanced at it once, then gazed at the water, which had grown still. Then slowly, wonderingly, his eyes were drawn back around to that mural. 

A blue dragon, monstrous in size, vast jaws sprung wide, about to devour a collection of buildings that probably represented a city. The mural was a mosaic of many-colored chips of stone, and had not faded with age as paintings did. Slowly Sonic noticed other things. The stormy sky, the wild sea that surrounded the dragon ... even then, the meaning of the picture did not dawn on him. 

The fairy stirred from her place and flew into his eyes. 

When Sonic had shaken his head and his eyes had readjusted, he found himself standing on a hill under the stars. Before him was a pale stone path, the stones bathed in a flickering red-gold light. "Whoa, teleporter," Sonic said, looking about. "Looks like somebody's having a barbecue up there." It did not enter his head for a moment that perhaps he was not in his own time. He trotted up the path, rounded a bend and stopped in horrified wonder. 

The light came from a small pyramid a little way off. From base to crown it was cloaked in red flames that crackled and roared, licking greedily into the sky. But it was alone. There were no onlookers, no one trying to put out the fire. The pyramid burned, alone under the stars. Sonic moved closer, driven perhaps by some impulse to help, to fight the fire somehow. A few dozen feet away, however, he stopped and dared go no closer. 

Things lay in clumps here and there in the grass. At first, in the orange light, Sonic had mistaken them for rocks. But now he recognized their shapes and stood in fear and grief. They were dead chao--a hundred of them, it seemed, lying here and there, huddled against one another, eyes closed, some stained with dark blood. It tore the hedgehog's heart--were these the friendly creatures in the hotel he had enjoyed so much? Who had killed them? 

Another sound reached his ears through the roar of the fire. A soft voice weeping. He looked about and saw, a little way off, a lone figure facing the fire, like him. He walked up to her and saw it was a young girl echidna, cradling one arm against her chest as if it were hurt, tears streaming down her face. "Are you all right?" Sonic asked her. 

She looked at him, not at all surprised to see him, and wailed, "This shouldn't have happened! It's all my fault! Look at what they did to the chao ..." 

A horrible sound echoed off the rocks around them--a screaming roar in the distance. It held rage, hatred and grief, and Sonic shuddered. "What happened?" 

The girl was staring off in the direction of the roar and didn't answer. 

"What happened?" he repeated. 

The girl spoke, but not to him. "Oh, I must stop him! He will destroy everyone!" She darted away from Sonic and up the steps of the burning shrine. 

"Don't go up there!" Sonic cried, started after her. 

He blinked and looked around. There had been no teleporter beam, but suddenly everything had faded like smoke and he was standing on the green turf outside the towering pyramid in the Mystic Ruins. "Weird," he breathed, rubbing his eyes. He drew a breath of the dewy air and looked at the sky. The stars were bright and low, and a green light was growing in the east. It took him several minutes to realize he had been inside the pyramid before his dream or whatever it had been. How had he gotten outside? 

That thought led immediately to the memory of the mural. Had the mural and his dream been connected somehow ...? No, no, they couldn't be. He must have fallen asleep for a few minutes. But that didn't explain how he had gotten outside. 

As the hedgehog stood thoughtfully gazing at the early dawn sky, a strange sound reached him above the music of the crickets. He knew it as well as Tails did: Robotnik's hovercraft. Sonic ran to the crumbling wall and stood against it, sheltered from view by the overhanging vines above. In the twilight, his dark blue color blended with the shadows, concealing him from all but the most watchful of eyes unless he moved. This he didn't, and Robotnik was not watching the ground for hedgehogs. He flew over, heading east. Sonic darted noiselessly out of hiding and followed him. 

Thus Sonic found the high cliffs at the foot of the valley, and looking down into the next valley, he saw the Final Egg ground base in all its operating glory, buildings extended, lights flashing gold and green and crimson. 

Still puzzling over the mural, the girl, the dead chao and the lonely burning pyramid, Sonic stepped into the entry hall--and was greeted by the last person in the world he wanted to see. Amy would never understand what he had just seen, and what was she doing here, anyway? Didn't she know she could get killed in places like these? He ordered her to go home with all the ferocity he could muster. Really, he didn't want to see her get hurt any more than he would Tails. 

Slightly peeved at himself for hurting her feelings--he had seen the look on her face before the door closed--he turned to face the Final Egg ground base.


	29. Robots

E-102 Gamma had watched the flicky who had been Epsilon fly away with all the emotional attachment of a rock. If epsilon wanted to be a jerk, fine, as long as he was free. 

Gamma jolted and staggered his way out of the lava cave. His systems were not working so well anymore, and his stabilizers cycled on and off. The last fight had been a tough one. 

He paused outside the cave to review his objectives. "E-103 Delta, E-104 Epsilon, released. E-105 Zeta, E-101 Beta, locations unknown." He sent out the most powerful radar scan he possessed, but it could not reach beyond the canyon walls. There were no more robots in this valley, at any rate. He reviewed his memory. Beta had been last seen in a suspended state in Construction Bay 15 on the Egg Carrier. Zeta ... could be anywhere. Would Metal Sonic have placed him elsewhere on the ship as well, for remodeling, as he had done with Beta? It was a possibility. "Perhaps they are aboard the Egg Carrier," Gamma said aloud. It would take him the rest of the night to locate and reach the Carrier, perhaps longer in his damaged condition. But he stubbornly set out anyway. 

So it was that, as Sonic entered the depths of the Final Egg fortress, E-102 Gamma landed on the wrecked but floating Egg Carrier. 

The nose and forward sections were charred and continued to smoke, although lapped by the cooling ocean. The nose had taken on enough water to balance the heavy jets in the rear, and the entire ship floated almost level, silent and powerless. But it was not off-line. 

Even on the brink of sinking beneath the waves, most of the electronic systems remained on and functioning, except for those in the forward sections, which had been disabled by the fire. As soon as Gamma stepped aboard, he was within range of the Carrier's remote-access robot hub. In spite of his malfunctioning systems, he was able to establish contact with the ship, which didn't care if he had rebelled or not. He asked it for the whereabouts of all E-series aboard. After a few moments--even a giant mainframe computer took time to scan the whole ship--he was given a list that contained three names: E-101, E-102 and E-105. E-101 Beta seemed to be moving about at great speed inside the ship, for every two seconds his coordinence had changed. Gamma decided to look for him last. E-105 Zeta, however, was stationary, somewhere in the Hot Shelter. Zeta would be the easiest to find. 

* * *

Metal Sonic stood in the shadows in the corner of Robotnik's office, red eyes smouldering. One could see nothing wrong with him, as his hull was as polished as ever, not a bolt out of place. Only he and Robotnik knew that he had been punished severely and painfully--Robotnik had, after all, pioneered the science of biotechnical torture--for neglecting to arm the nuclear missile. Mecha had been sorry the instant he had realized the missile was not armed, but the punishment had instead made him maliciously happy it had not been armed after all, because it had spoiled his Master's plans. And worst of all, it had made Mecha angry. 

As Robotnik strode here and there in the office, examining screens and reading robot reports, Metal Sonic's digital eyes followed him with unbridled hatred. At that moment the doctor's life had never been in greater danger. 

Robotnik was saved by the beeping of an alarm and a root's voice reporting, "Priority hedgehog spotted in construction hall thirty four! We are under attack!" 

A second later Mecha was flying down the hall, head lowered and fingers curled into claws. He could vent his fury on his enemy ... 

* * *

Sonic ducked under a swinging construction arm, tore his way through a gang of robots, then grabbed another robot and used its body to shield himself from the laserblasts of a ceiling turret. Panting, he glanced about and saw twenty other robots converging on the scene, reminiscent of Robotropolis SWAT-bots and all heavily armed. He would be toast if he didn't make tracks, fast. 

A blue blur flashed between the oncoming bots, up the wall and into a ventilation duct. Panting, the hedgehog threw himself down in the tubular duct, as the air was blowing through it with sizeable strength. Over the roar of the wind in his ears, Sonic could hear the voices and clanking of the robots as they tried to figure out what had happened to him. "Idiots," he thought warmly. There were more of them than he had thought--he had better be more careful if he was to find Robotnik and escape with his life. 

Sonic waited for the noise below to quiet down, softly rubbing the still-raw laser scratch under his arm ... he was lucky to have gotten off the Egg Carrier with only that small wound, and the rapidly fading bruises across his gut where Chaos had bitten him. 

"What DID happen to Chaos?" Sonic wondered as he crawled to the edge of the duct and looked down. A few robots stationed here and there as others cleaned up the mess he had made. He had better not go back down there. He crawled up the duct instead on hands and knees, looking for a vent he could climb out of. Maybe Chaos had been squashed when he fell into the machinery. Well, maybe not ... you couldn't get rid of water that easily. More likely, he had jumped ship when the Carrier went down. "It sure would be scary if I looked up and there he was," Sonic thought. He looked up to make sure, but there was only the duct stretching away in windy gloom. 

A vent to the left. Sonic crawled to it and peered out furtively. It was a vast room of turning gears, pumping pistons and rotating shafts, but no floor. As far down as Sonic could see there was nothing but moving machinery, like the inner workings of a monstrous clock. As his eyes adjusted to the motion, he noticed slender walkways suspended from the walls and nearby ceiling, probably for maintenance purposes. No robots here. 

The hedgehog jumped from the vent to a slowly rotating gear, as big as a tractor tire, and from there to a walkway. 

He had picked his walk halfway across the maze when Sonic got the feeling he was being watched. Nervously he craned his neck and looked around, but could see no one. That meant nothing--a dozen robots would lie hidden in the machinery and he would never see them. 

The walkway sagged beneath his feet without warning, the far end tilting down toward oblivion. No time to figure out why--he was sliding. The hedgehog glanced about for a place to jump to, but the wheels on either side were spinning dangerously, and the nearest walkway was twenty feet away. He braced himself with his rubber-soled shoes and grasped either side of the walkway. He slid to a stop, and again looked about for a possible means of escape. To slide all the way down meant falling to a messy demise in the churning machinery below. Right and left were blocked by whirling gears. That left only up. 

Sonic twisted about and crawled up the slanting walkway like a child would climb a slide in a playground. He climbed to one of the few remaining cables that held up the walkway and shimmied up it. A glance at the ceiling overhead revealed an assortment of girders that supported the cables and various pieces of machinery. 

Sonic pulled himself up on the steel bar and sat astride it, panting. He didn't know why that walkway had broken, but he had better make tracks just the same. 

A pair of digital red eyes watched the hedgehog from across the room. Sonic would never escape the fortress now. To 'play' with him was only to prolong his death ... and that was exactly what Mecha intended to do. 

* * *

Although Gamma was worse off physically than Sonic, he knew his way around the Hot Shelter, and that was where their missions differed. 

The Egg Carrier had taken on water in places, and the robot was forced to detour around the flooded areas, painfully. His systems had not stabilized properly, and the weight of his useless leg was a drain on his batteries. Every step was a challenge, and a detour was a grievous loss. 

The Hot Shelter was confusing at the best of times. Now, what with the flooding in the lower decks and the backup generators running, it was a bewildering labyrinth in which only half the lights worked. Often Gamma halted and consulted the robot hub for directions, which, owing to his slowly dying system, he only partially understood. But as his programmed brain weakened, his true mind--the mind of the pilot--strengthened, and he thought of shortcuts a robot would never have dreamed of; a cargo lift instead of a flight of stairs, the Hot Shelter freight train instead of a long hike through ship-transformation machinery. 

The latter was tricker than it seemed. For one thing, the train ran the whole length of the Hot Shelter at 200 mph, rushing cargo and robots back and forth. One of the places it didn't stop was the landing where Gamma wanted to stop, for it was only a short distance from Zeta. Thus, as soon as the train left its station, Gamma began to work his way forward, hopping from car to car. He reached the engine after a long struggle, waited until it approached his stop, then jerked the brake lever. 

The resulting stop was swift and violent, and Gamma nearly lost his hand as the brake lever was torn from his grasp by the jolt. But at last the train was stopped, brakes smoking. Gamma activated his jetpack, flew off the train, across the tracks and onto the landing. There he stopped a moment to confirm his location. Yes, he was right where he wanted to be, and Zeta was only five hundred feet from him. 

The robot limped into the Hot Shelter. 

* * *

At that moment Sonic was cursing all robots, unaware there was at least one of Robotnik's minions on his side. The hedgehog was angry and afraid--being stalked by Metal Sonic through completely unfamiliar surroundings was not his idea of fun. 

Sonic had escaped the machinery room, only to enter a vast construction bay, as large as an airfield underground, chock-full of robots, half-built robots and machinery. There Metal Sonic had attacked, silent but for the whirr of his engines. Sonic had run for it. When Mecha attacked in silence, without even a hateful taunt, it usually meant he was furious and intent only on killing. 

Sonic had hid from him inside an empty robot construction chamber, panting and trying to listen for the robot's engines above the noise of the machinery. He did not hear them, but without warning the glass tube began to lower around him. Sonic suffered a near-heart attack, ducked under the descending glass and was away. 

Three times more he was flushed from hiding like a rabbit, growing angrier with each encounter, and more confused with each step. The deeper he went the more bewildering Final Egg became, and the harder Mecha drove him. 

A check came when Sonic arrived in a giant empty room with no ceiling, only machinery working high above. There was a lone lever under a Plexiglass panel on the floor. Panting and looking over his shoulder every two seconds, the hedgehog slid back the panel and flipped the lever. 

"Final Egg isolation block open," announced a computer voice from speakers in the walls. At the same time, the floor slid away on all sides, leaving Sonic standing on a small round island with the lever on it. There was a colossal noise of machinery activating, and the island was lifted into the air several hundred feet, until it was just below the machinery that had been so distant before. "That'll throw Mecha for a while," Sonic muttered smugly. The doorway he had entered by was now sealed by a safety door. 

Sonic leaped to a balcony jutting out of the wall, trotted through the empty station behind it, and took a big freight elevator down, down, into the heart of the fortress. There he descended a giant staircase--by this time he was beginning to wonder how long it had taken Robotnik to build a base of such size--and took yet another elevator down. "I hope I'm going the right way," he thought as he sat on the elevator floor to rest his tired legs. "This is getting ridiculous." 

* * *

"Dr. Robotnik, I have lost him," Metal Sonic reported. He was standing behind the door Sonic had closed, momentarily foiled. His anger had cooled, and his mental computer was beginning to work again. Robotnik's voice replied, "Affirmative, Mecha. I will deal with him myself now. Return to your duties." 

"Return to your duties," Mecha mocked once the transmission was safely ended. "The heck I will, Master, until I have seen you defeat the Hedgehog. I made the mistake of obeying you once too many." The blue robot whirled and made for the upper levels. There was more than one way into the isolation block.


	30. Beta

Far from the warfare of dark, machinery-ridden fortresses, Amy Rose stood at the rail on a friend's borrowed motorboat, gazing across the bay at the bulk of the Egg Carrier, floating like some grotesque sea monster in the ocean. The late morning sun was warm on the hedgehog's pink hair, now ruffled by the wind as the boat raced across the waves. Birdy, the green flicky, sat on her shoulder, little claws clenched into the shoulder of her dress, and stared at the Egg Carrier in apprehension. He knew, even if Amy didn't, where his parents were, and making Amy help them without being able to speak her language would not be easy. 

"So, why do you want to go to that thing, anyway?" called the girl at the boat's helm, a human girl named Rachel (who was, in fact, who Amy had named her chao after). "It sure looks creepy to me!" 

"I'm looking for Birdy's parents," Amy called into the wind. "Can you wait for me?" 

"Sure thing, Amy. Want me to come with you? I mean, it'd be like, totally awful if something happened to you ... I mean, like, with those awful robots and everything." 

"No thanks, I'll be fine," Amy replied, fingering her big mallet. To her inexperienced eye it was an apt weapon. "I mean, it's not like I haven't been there before. Just wait for me in the boat." She stroked Birdy's head to show him she was not afraid. Birdy ignored her, thinking only of his mother and father. 

* * *

Deep in the Egg Carrier, in the gloom of the Hot Shelter, E-102 Gamma faced E-105 Zeta and was not afraid. 

Zeta, the purple robot, had indeed been given to Metal Sonic, and Mecha had handed him over to the construction droids with a few instructions. The result was that Zeta was no longer a mobile unit--he was an enlarged generator, surrounded by steam and working pistons. The only thing that remained of his original design was his yellow head and green eyes. No one but Metal Sonic could have thought of such a thing. 

As Gamma entered the room, Zeta's head swiveled about to face him. Gamma, dwarfed before the giant machine, braced himself and raised his blaster. He hadn't the faintest idea what to aim at--there were too many targets. But as he stood there, a different, pilot-borne thought filtered into his computer: Zeta would not fight for he was not a robot. He was a generator. Therefore he must simply be shut down. 

"Zeta," Gamma said the the machine. "Greetings." 

Zeta said nothing. 

Asking him to shut down would do no good--he might as well ask an organism to will its heart to stop beating. Gamma contacted the robot hub and asked it to shut down Zeta, but it requested a password Gamma lacked. 

The crippled red robot stood there a long time, thinking. There had to be a way to solve this puzzle, and he had a feeling he was staring right at it. Again, it was not the computer, but Gamma's brain that solved the problem. He tagged Zeta's head with his laser and hit it with his blaster. They yellow panel blew off, and out fluttered a red flicky bird. 

The flicky flew to Gamma and chirped, "I thought I'd NEVER get out of there! Thanks a million! Hey, you'd better watch out. Beta is loose, and he has orders to destroy all intruders, and that means you." The bird paused for breath, looked up at his former body, headless but still running, and shivered. "Man, am I glad to be free. Good luck, Gamma." 

* * *

"Well well, if it isn't Sonic! I'm surprised you made it this far." 

The blue hedgehog stood before Robotnik, and was nervous, but defiant. "Well, I did, Eggman, and I ditched Mecha while I was at it." 

Sonic was standing on a long bridge that was suspended across one of the now-familier bottomless chasms. Thirty feet away another bridge ran parallel to his. Between them hovered a fearsome attack robot with Robotnik in the head. "Egg Viper" was emblazoned on its side in yellow. The cockpit was retracted into the thick, protective hull, and on either side spun two spike-rimmed wheels. Attached to the rear of this monstrosity was a fifteen-foot tail made of four joined steel segments, which gave it its snakey name. Sonic could see no weaknesses. 

Robotnik settled back in the cockpit comfortably. Sonic would not win this time, he was certain. On the off chance he came close, Metal Sonic was watching from further up the shaft they were in, the lone witness to the battle. Of course, Mecha did not think his master had observed him, but Robotnik did not mind. 

The Egg Viper flipped up, over, and dove under the bridge. It reappeared a second later, leaping through the air like a dolphin, and with each leap it fired laserbolts at Sonic. The hedgehog ducked and tore up and down the bridge, too fast for the lasers to quite hit. Seeing this, Robotnik stopped the Viper a few feet from the bridge, opened the cockpit and called, "The hedgehog wants to dance, does he?" 

"Sure, and why not join me?" Sonic retorted. Like a blue bolt of lightning he leaped out, curled into a spin, struck the windshield a furious blow, bounced into the air and flipped onto the other bridge. 

Robotnik slid the cockpit back between the spinning spiked wheels, angry and shaken. Sonic had nearly got him that time--the windshield looked as if someone had taken a baseball bat to it. He flipped the agile Egg Viper about and fired more laserbolts at his enemy. 

Again Sonic ran, and again the laserbolts missed him by a hair. Sonic was planning ahead--once the Viper was defeated, he could inch along a ledge he had spotted on the wall, to the doorway he had entered by--at least it was still open. But how was he to defeat the Viper? It appeared invulnerable, and boy, was it fast. It had to have a weakness ... everything had a weakness ... 

The Egg Viper halted again, but this time at a distance from Sonic. Its jointed tail curved about underneath it, so the machine took on the shape of a sideways question mark. Three panels opened on the head, on the right, left and top sides of the cockpit. These contained packed energy cells, which began to glow neon blue. Each tail segment bore a round energy cell, which also began to glow. The Viper was a monstrous weapon. 

"Take this!" Robotnik yelled as the cells brightened. Sonic, mind in high gear, saw that he didn't want to be in the way when the Viper fired. On impulse he dashed forward, leaped, spun. He raced up the energized tail segments in a ball, guided by their heat, and launched himself at the topmost energy panel above the cockpit. 

Explosion! Heat! The smell of singed fur, falling, crash onto something solid. Sonic sat up and shook his head in a daze. Good grief, had he blown up the Viper? He couldn't see it. He climbed to his feet, wobbled unsteadily, and looked over the edge of the bridge. Good thing had had landed on it. The Egg Viper was floating twenty feet below, the damaged panel aflame. 

Sonic patted down his singed spines and smiled grimly. He had discovered the ship's weakness. 

Robotnik knew he had discovered a weakness, one which Robotnik himself was not aware of until that moment. Cursing, he activated the automatic fire extinguishers, which doused the flames with white foam. "Now, Sonic," he snarled, throwing the Viper into gear, "we'll see how well you handle the guillotine approach." 

Sonic stood braced and ready as the Viper reappeared in a wide leap over his bridge, but was nearly thrown from his feet as the ship smashed up through the far end like an evil jack-in-the-box. "Get a load of this," Robotnik bellowed. 

Both spinning wheels on either side of the Viper's head loosed, fell sideways and hovered near the bridge, spinning into a blur. Then they shot at the hedgehog. 

Sonic had a fraction of a second in which to act. He could duck and risk having the blades come down on him, or jump and let them pass beneath him. He chose the latter. There was a blue beneath him as they flashed under. As he came down, they returned, and he landed on the center of one and was hurled back toward the Viper. "No way! I don't believe this!" Robotnik cried, frantically trying to keep the wheels from coming back, but they were too quick. They shot to the sides of the cockpit, tilted up to resume their former positions--and Sonic leaped from his perch and smashed the second electric panel. 

The explosion was smaller with the gun deactivated, and Sonic was not burned this time. He landed triumphantly on the bridge as the wounded Egg Viper dropped from sight to regroup. He glanced at the hole in the bridge--more like a gap. The bridge was composed of floating platforms linked together, and the Viper had destroyed two at the far end. 

This time the Viper did not attack him immediately. First it assaulted the other bridge, tearing through the plastic platforms with its churning wheels, splintering them. "Oh, he's mad now," Sonic thought, watching. "I I can just get to that last panel ..." Here his thoughts were interrupted as the Viper flew straight at him, strafing the bridge with laserfire. Sonic ducked under it, and the lasers went wide as it passed over. Again it dove beneath the bridge and came up through it almost under Sonic's feet. The hedgehog danced backward. If those wheels came at him it would be difficult to dodge this close. He could count the bolts on the Viper's hull. 

The wheels shot at him, tilting sideways as they came. Again Sonic jumped to let them pass under him, but this time was not so lucky. The top of the wheel struck his feet, tripped his and flung him flat on the platform. Sonic bounced to his feet and leaped into the air with a sickened gasp, expecting any second to feel the blurred spikes tear into his flesh. Instead he landed on a returning wheel, nearly toppled off the edge, and had just enough wits left to jump off and crush the third panel on the Viper. 

Explosion! Flash of yellow, heat, the smell of hot metal. Sonic, on his hands and knees on the bridge, lifted his head to see the Egg Viper's tail ignite and blow off, sending the head section into a spin. The head itself was aflame, trailing putrid black smoke. It flew around and around the battle arena, bobbing up and down like a wounded fish seeking escape from its tank. 

As Sonic watched it, a flash caught his eye, and there was the pink fairy-light that had led him through the ruins. It flew to him, and that distant female voice cried, "Watch out, he's up to something!" 

Sonic looked at the struggling viper in time to see if flip about, launch into the air and fall directly toward him. He leaped forward and tumbled. He felt the platform rattle and rock as the Viper hit it with all Robotnik's fury. Then it vanished below. A moment later a fiery shockwave roared up the shaft as the Egg Viper met its demise. 

Sonic didn't look up again for several minutes, and so didn't see Metal Sonic leap from the balcony high above and plunge down, down the shaft to rescue his master. 

But when Metal Sonic next looked about for his rival, there was nothing on the bridge but a few sneaker prints. 

* * *

Gamma stepped into the sun on the Egg Carrier's deck. "E-105 Zeta, rescue mission successful," he said to himself. "Units remaining ..." 

A queer sort of feeling crept through the robot's computer. He lifted his hand and looked at it. "... Gamma ..." How was he to free himself? He had not thought of that before. 

A sound. Gamma looked up to see a large black and white robot fly overhead, bound for the front of the ship. "... Beta." The flicky had warned him of Beta. Well, Beta was an E-series, and thus he was a friend who must be freed. 

Gamma limped after Beta. 

The two met atop the same glass engine housing where Sonic and Chaos 6 had battled. This time it was daylight, and perfectly quiet but for the lapping of the ocean at the ship's hull. 

The crippled red robot gazed at his hulking opponent. Beta Improved was even more hideous than he had appeared in the construction chamber. His green eyes were alert, his wing-like arms attached and functional, the laser lenses in his hands polished and ready to rip. But he was still Beta, the robot who had won Gamma's respect back in the Final Egg fortress. And of all the E-series, Beta was the one Gamma hated the most to destroy. 

"Greetings, Beta," Gamma said to the monster. Beta did not reply--instead he darted sideways like a giant hummingbird. Gamma shook his head in regret and took his battle stance. With a bad leg and failing batteries, it would he a difficult fight. 

Gamma locked onto Beta with his tag laser and fired. To his surprise Beta threw up an arm and bounced the projectile away into the sky. Then he ducked away. Gamma turned to target him again, but this time Beta simply dodged the shot. He could move like lightning, and often Gamma would be left staring stupidly at empty space. 

Beta paused in the air for a second, and a yellow forcefield appeared around him--then he extended one clawed arm and drove at Gamma like a charging bull. Gamma simply lacked the speed to avoid him, and so was struck down. Lying on his back, sparking, Gamma turned his head, targeted Beta's exposed back and fired. 

Hit! The delicacy of Beta's systems was shown as the robot shuddered and nearly fell to the deck. But he righted himself and flew into the sky as Gamma struggled to his feet. 

Gamma looked about for Beta and saw him above at a little distance, both hands held together, the combined energy of the laser crystals forming a lightning ball. In a second he launched it at Gamma. Fortunately Gamma hobbled out of the way and missed the direct blow, but took the brunt of the shockwave. He was beginning to wonder at the superiority of Beta's weapons--here was a robot he might not be able to defeat. 

Beta returned to his hover-and-dodge routine, letting Gamma's shots bounce off his arm shields. He launched a batch of slow-moving homing missiles at Gamma, but remembering his little trick, Gamma picked them out of the air with a series of well-placed shots. Tiring of this play, Beta again charged at his brother, claws extended. Gamma avoided him that time with the aid of his jetpack, and planted another laser in Beta's back as he tore by. 

Again Beta took to the air to fire his charging laser down at Gamma, but he was beginning to malfunction. His motions were jerky, speed dropping. He attempted to charge his lasers, but instead fired repeatedly, shots going wild and missing Gamma on all sides. At last Beta was able o steady himself enough to build a reasonably sized lightning ball, which missed, as Gamma anticipated the move and sidestepped. Battle programming distorted by damage, Beta charged down upon Gamma, claws out. The red robot hopped out of the way, and hit Beta in the back for the third and final time. 

The black and white robot gave a digital scream, horrible to hear, like a computer on a power surge. He collapsed to the deck, shuddering with such violence Gamma felt it through the floor. Gamma could only watch in mindless sorrow. Metal Sonic had turned his one-time friend into a killing machine. 

Beta began to spark, and the white smoke wisping from his back turned black and thickened. Slowly his convulsions weakened, finally stopping altogether as the fire in his damaged core gained a foothold. His green eyes flickered out, and he lay, off-line, on the green glass. 

Hesitantly Gamma moved closer. He was not thinking of the flicky inside the burning robot--he thought only of Beta, his friend. His robot mind and body were weakening quickly now, for the damage taken during the battle had taken its toll. There were two huge punctures in his chest where Beta's claws had torn him, and the brain of his pilot could sense the light. The mind of the pilot was also mostly in control, too--and goaded by some sense or memory, he limped up to Beta's fallen form. 

The smoking robot moved, the eyes flickered on. Beta was not quite dead. With the last of his programmed aggression and strength, he reared himself up with a screech of engines, held up both hands, deadly laser lenses two feet from Gamma's head, and fired. 

Gamma had a glimpse of blinding white light, then his systems blinked and went off. He was aware of light in a dark place, panting, panting, heat and the sound of crackling flames. Then his systems flicked on again, fuzzy and lined. He was lying on his back. He righted himself with difficulty ... his body was very heavy. His right leg was twisted even more, his left leg was bent, and his right arm was broken, perhaps missing. Even as he saw through his robot eyes, he was aware of light in his pilot's eyes, as if receiving input from two different computers. Beta was truly dead now, but his job was done. Gamma would not live much longer. 

As Beta burned, Gamma turned away and dragged himself across the arena, almost useless, he, who had been Robotnik's favorite. But his mission was complete--Beta was destroyed, his pilot freed. 

Beta's head unscrewed, and from the burning interior there emerged a rumpled grey flicky, slightly singed, but alive. It fell onto the deck, hopped a few feet and took to the air. It flew in several circles as it regained its bearings, then dove down and hovered before Gamma's robot eyes. "Nina! Nina!" he chirped. "It's me, Nimbo! Can you hear me? Nina, you saved me!" 

The words of the flicky were heard, but their appeal was directly to the pilot, not the robot. Gamma tried to remember who Nimbo was. A memory struggled to get through, tried, faded, vanished. The robot collapsed to the ground in a jumbled heap. "Go, escape," he whispered. 

The grey flicky called Nimbo moved back a little, the hope in his bright eyes dying. "Goodbye, Gamma," he said, and his voice was the same as Beta's. He turned about and flew away into the sky. 

Gamma's systems were shutting down, including the one that controlled the pilot's mind. As Nimbo said goodbye, the memory that had failed to get through returned, and this time made it through in a rush. Nimbo, the grey flicky, Cirrus, the green flicky protected by Amy ... and Nina, who was ... 

"Nimbo, don't go, I remember I remember!" The robot body lifted and looked over its shoulder the way the flicky had gone, but the voice was a bird's cry inside the hull, muffled by the metal. Then the robot fell, head still turned, looking over its shoulder. The flicky inside was struggling, fighting to free itself, gasping for breath. 

E-102's head unscrewed automatically, and the pink flicky inside flopped out and lay still, body heaving, gasping the delicious air. She was free. Mission accomplished. She was free! 

Crazy with joy, the flicky who had been Gamma leaped into the air, shrieking to her husband, "Nimbo, Nimbo, wait for me!" 

* * *

Amy stepped onto the Egg Carrier, mallet at the ready. 

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Rachel asked, tossing a rope to Amy, who wound it around a bolt that protruded a couple inches from the hull. "Sure, I'll be fine," Amy replied. "I'll be back in about half an hour." 

Rachel nodded and seemed about to add something, but that that moment a cell phone rang somewhere in the motorboat. Rachel answered it, sat back in the boat seat and waved goodbye to Amy. 

"I wish I had a boyfriend," Amy said mournfully to Birdy as she climbed up the sloping side to the deck above. "And I wish his name was Sonic." Birdy didn't respond, and Amy reached the deck, panting. She swung her mallet a couple times to loosen up her arm, then said, "Lead the way, Birdy." 

Birdy hesitated a moment, looking up at the ship around them. Then he drew in all his feathers, making himself skinny as a stick, cocking his head as if he heard something Amy did not. With a startling whistle he leaped from her shoulder and flew away toward the front of the ship. "Birdy, wait!" Amy shouted, pelting after him. "What are you afraid of?" 

The flicky could fly faster than she could run, and in a moment she had lost sight of him. "Bird-ee!" Amy cried piercingly. "Come back! Did I scare you? Come back!" 

Then she listened. It seemed to her that she could hear the twittering of birds somewhere--it sounded like a pet store. Then Birdy reappeared, gliding down from somewhere high above, and with him were two other flickies. The flickies in the picture in the locket. 

"Ooo!" Amy squealed as Birdy landed on her shoulder. "You found your family! I'm so happy!" 

The pink flicky gasped and exclaimed, "Amy! Amy, it's you!" 

Amy looked at her. "Have we met?" 

"Of course!" the flicky said, landing on a nearby railing. "I used to be E-102 Gamma." 

Amy's mouth fell open in shock. "You--you mean you--were the robot who let me go?" 

"Yes, yes!" the flicky chirped. "My real name is Nina, and this is my mate, Nimbo. He was the robot E-101 Beta--I don't think you ever met him--and my son's name is Cirrus. Thank you for taking care of him." 

Amy looked at Birdy in mock accusation. "Why didn't you ever tell me your name?" 

He gave a flutter of his wings and a twitter. 

"He can't talk yet," Nimbo said. "At least not your language." 

Amy clasped her hands together and bounced up and down, unable to contain her excitement. "Oh, I'm so GLAD I found you!" She stopped and looked hard at Nina and Nimbo. "But how'd you stop being robots?" 

Nina and Nimbo looked at each other a moment, then shrugged in unison. "It's a long story," Nimbo said. "But if you've got the time to listen--" 

Suddenly a terrible thing happened. Cirrus was sitting on Amy's shoulder, as he had ever since she had found him, so happy he was fit to burst. Then from out of nowhere, a black object dealt him a crushing blow. Amy was knocked sideways, and the little bird fell to the ground and lay still. 

Amy whirled. There stood Zero, the black and green garbage can that had kidnapped her and pursued her through Hot Shelter and Final Egg. He had fired his fist and was reeling it back in on a cable, looking oddly satisfied for a robot with no facial expressions. Amy dropped to her knees and touched the bird. Nina and Nimbo landed near him, and Nina hopped forward. "He's still breathing," she announced anxiously. "Ooo, that Zero--I always hated him!" 

Nimbo hopped a few feet in Zero's direction. "If only I were still Beta Improved ... I'd show him a thing or two!" 

Despite Nina's reassurance, Amy could see no sign of life in her little friend. What if he died? A lump appeared in her throat and tears stung the backs of her eyes. "Birdy," she said softly. 

Then grief turned to white-hot fury. She gripped her mallet and spun to face Zero. "You idiot! How could you do this? Ooh, you're gonna get it!" She charged, a fiery pink hedgehog, armed only with an aluminum hammer. But even Sonic would have been impressed had he seen the battle that followed. 

Zero was on his home ship and unafraid of a foolish girl. He contacted the robot hub and requested ten force-field poles. These floated out of the cargo hold, landed in a circle around Zero and Amy and activated. They generated a crackling forcefield of electricity, which kept Amy from escaping. 

Amy was not thinking of escaping. She was too mad. She hit Zero over and over with her mallet, trying to put out his eyes, trying to knock him over, anything. He returned her attacks coolly, firing his fists at her like boxing gloves, each launching with enough force to fracture the young hedgehog's bones if they connected. But it took him several seconds to lock on a target, and she always avoided him. 

Amy was not strong enough to really harm the robot, not even with her mallet. But he stumbled on a way to destroy him by accident. Their fight had brought them near the electric fence. Amy leaped and swung her hammer recklessly into Zero's face. The robot was knocked backward and landed on the forcefield. He struggled wildly and flung himself off it, then sat on the ground, smoking and trying to regain his senses. As he did, the top half of the garbage can (or lid) popped open to release heat. Amy caught sight of Zero's unprotected power core, a little white square thing. She dashed to it and struck it with all her might. 

The glass and ceramic insulation inside shattered, and Zero's internal structure overheated in a split second. Amy flung herself down and covered her head with her arms as the robot exploded, parts and shrapnel flying every which way. Unlike the other E-series, he had no pilot, which explained his stupidity in simple matters, such as capturing a single bird. 

As things stopped falling out of the sky and the smoke began to drift away, Amy lifted her head to see the electric fenceposts deactivate and float away. The robot hub sensed they were no longer needed. 

Amy stood, brushed off her skirt and looked with triumph at the pieces of robot lying about her. "That'll teach you, jerk," she snorted. Then she trotted back to the two ex-robots and the injured Cirrus. 

Birdy--or Cirrus--had not moved. His worried parents looked up at Amy as she knelt and lifted him in her hands. "Birdy," she murmured to him, "please wake up ... I killed that bad Zero. Please wake up!" She could feel his light, rapid heartbeat against her fingers. 

To her relief his eyes opened, and he looked up at her. She smiled and set him down, and watched as his mother and father embraced him in the flicky fashion. "Are you all right?" Amy asked him. "Can you fly?" 

Cirrus twittered, fluttered his wings and took to the air. 

"Nothing broken," said his mother in relief. "Thank you so much, Amy. We wouldn't be here today if not for you." 

"Ditto," Amy smiled. "I'd probably be robotized if you hadn't let me go." 

The flicky family took off and circled Amy's head. "Thank you, goodbye, goodbye!" they chirped. 

"See you later!" Amy said, waving with both hands. "Drop by Station Square sometime!" 

"Don't worry," Nina laughed, "you'll see us before long--I'd like to swap stories! Goodbye!" 

Amy watched the three fly away into the blue sky and sighed. "That ought to make Sonic respect me," she said to herself. "I blew up Zero!" She swung her mallet and did a little dance. "If not, I'll MAKE Sonic respect me, and by then it'll be too late and he'll be my boyfriend, like it or not!" 

Grinning like a little hedgehog goon, Amy trotted back in the direction of the waiting motorboat, and home.


	31. Thunder, rain and lightning

"Hey, am I bad, or am I bad?" 

Sonic tilted his chair back on its hind legs. His feet were on the table, hands behind his head, sunglasses on his nose. A lemonade, tall and frosty, stood near his ankle. He, Tails, Knuckles, the flicky Nina and Amy were seated at a cafe table behind the Sunset Resort, only a few yards from the sea. 

"No, I'm the cool one," Tails grinned. "I tore up the Egg Walker all by myself." 

"What about me?" Amy demanded, setting her milkshake down with a clink. "I smashed Zero to bits, and there was NObody around to help me!" 

"For that matter, I defeated Chaos 6 singlehandedly," Knuckles said from his relaxed position in his lawn chair. "And I took his six emeralds home for safekeeping, too." 

"Sounds to me like you're all heros," chirped the pink flicky perched on Amy's chair. "Why argue?" 

"I still think I'm bad," Sonic said, crossing his feet. "I mean, there I was, in Final Egg. Nobody around but baddies." He waved a hand through the air, palm outward. "Mecha on my tail. And then up pops the granddaddy of all robots, the Egg Viper." He proceeded to describe his battle with Robotnik in great detail. As he talked, Amy and Tails' eyes grew wide with fearful fascination, but to Sonic's annoyance, Knuckles only nodded now and then, smiling to himself and gazing at the ocean. It wasn't until Sonic reached the part about the fairy's lifesaving warning that Knuckles turned and stared at him soberly. 

Satisfied, Sonic ended his tale with how fast he had escaped the fortress and came back to the city. "And that's it," he concluded. "Why were you grinning, Knux? I say something funny?" 

The small smile reappeared. Knuckles shook his head. "Oh, nothing like that. I just though it was kind of funny about the Egg Viper. See, I designed it." 

Tails, Amy and Sonic gaped, but Sonic recovered first. "Oh yeah, you designed a lot of robots, didn't you?" 

"YOU worked for Robotnik?" Amy gasped, still staring at Knuckles as if he were Metal Sonic in disguise. 

"Sure he did," Tails said, sipping his root beer. "A long time ago, Robotnik hired him ... and the Master emerald." 

Amy looked inquiringly at Sonic, who leaned forward, gulped his lemonade and leaned back again. "Long story, girl. I'll tell you sometime." 

Knuckles was not interested in robots at the moment. "Sonic, about the fairy--did you ever meet her before?" 

Sonic brought his chair down on all fours and leaned his elbows on the table. "Well, yeah. She led me all through the pyramid." 

Knuckles straightened. "You didn't go to the temple, did you? The shrine to Chaos?" 

Sonic looked blank for a moment. "Oh, you mean that weird hall with the neat mural? Yeah." 

"What neat mural?" Tails asked, hurt. "Sonic, you never told me about a mural." 

"Or me," added Amy, who was feeling lost. 

Knuckles described it briefly, then looked at Sonic. "Sonic, that was Chaos. That was what happened to my ancestors." 

Sonic frowned. "How can you be sure? Did the fairy up and TELL you?" 

"Well, no ..." 

"Knux, we've SEEN Chaos. He's big and mean, but he's not strong enough to wipe out a city. We'd have been toast if he was." He paused and took a drink of lemonade. 

"How'd you get out of the pyramid?" Knuckles asked, examining his shovelclaws innocently. 

Sonic faltered. "Uh ... I, um ... you know, I got out somehow." 

"Did you have a dream?" 

Sonic met Knuckles' eye sideways. "Why do you ask that?" 

Knuckles gazed steadily at his friend. "Because I had one there, too, and woke up outside the pyramid." 

"Hey!" Tails interrupted suddenly. "I had a dream and woke up in a different place! It was about an echidna girl." 

"And chao," Amy and the flicky said in unison. Amy looked over her shoulder. "Nina, you had a dream, too?" 

"Ye-es," Nina said hesitantly. "It frightened me." 

"Tikal," Knuckles said quietly. Everyone looked at him solemnly and nodded. 

A moment later the four mobians and the flicky were leaning together on the table, talking in low voices, and Knuckles was scribbling furiously on a napkin. Everyone had had one dream apiece with the exception of Knuckles, who had had three. He figured it was because he was an echidna. 

After some discussion and Knuckles had rearranged his notes, they decided that Tails's dream came first in chronological order. Tikal had not ventured to the shrine on the Floating Island, and was thinking over the oncoming war. Next was Knuckles' first vision, when Tikal had tried to talk her father out of attacking the island and taking the power stones for himself. Third was Amy's dream, when Tikal had crept to the shrine herself and encountered the chao. Amy added that a green-eyed water monster had come out of the fountain and frightened both herself and Tikal right before she woke up. "But she must have made friends with him," added Nina, "because she said he was gentle in my dream." Nina's dream came after Amy's, for Tikal as familiar with both the chao and Chaos. 

Knuckles' second and third dreams came next. His second dream was of Tikal talking to the Master emerald, pleading for it to take everyone away, and Chaos's disapproving growl when she considered hiding the emeralds herself. Then she promised to help the chao and departed. But in Knuckles' third dream, the emeralds were gone, the shrine was on fire, the chao were dead, and Tikal had been abandoned. Sonic's dream came almost at the same time as Knuckles's, but Sonic had seen something Knuckles hadn't--Tikal run up the burning steps toward the Master Emerald. 

"And so that's that," Sonic said. "Tikal failed and they took the emeralds. But what was all that supposed to accomplish? You know, all of us having those visions." 

Knuckles stared at his notes, chin braced on one big palm. "I don't know. I thought it had something to do with Chaos, but now I'm no so sure." He sighed. 

Tails noisily slurped the last of his drink from the bottom of his glass. "It's like we're missing something, don't you think?" 

"Yeah," Amy added. "Didn't she say ANYthing about Chaos?" 

"She said something about not wanting to rouse him," Knuckles said. 

"And she said something about "he will destroy us all," Sonic added hopefully. 

Knuckles jotted this down, gazed at it, then leaned back and rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. "But maybe she wasn't talking about Chaos. Maybe her father became invulnerable when he got all the emeralds." 

The five of them sighed. For a few minutes there was nothing but the swish of the ocean at the shore and the mew of a passing gull. 

Knuckles stood up. "I need to go. I promised the Chaotix I'd be back by three. They want to go to a football game or something." They others got up to see him off, then, feeling as if lunch was over with his departure, went their ways. 

* * *

A week passed. Sonic took Tails and Amy to Twinkle Park, and the three had a grand time. Sonic wanted to go snowboarding with Knuckles, but was told that it had grown too warm and the snow was melting, so the slopes were closed for the summer. 

One day they rented a boat and went out to the Egg Carrier. The monster ship was a dozen feet lower in the water, and tilted at a slight angle. It would probably sink within a few days. There was much hoopla in the newspapers about how the Carrier would pollute the bay, but no move was made to dismantle it. Everyone was too afraid of Dr. Robotnik. 

On Saturday Knuckles and the Chaotix wrestled the Master emerald back to its original place in Hidden Palace. 

On Sunday Sonic and Tails hopped and train to the Mystic Ruins. Tails introduced Mac and Sonic, and Sonic pledged Mac the support of the Freedom Fighters in return for helping Tails. Then the two sent the rest of the day looking for the pyramid in the jungle, which they discovered near sunset, and gleefully pointed the exploring party toward it. "Now it'll be explored," Sonic grinned to Tails as they rode the train back to Sapphire City. "We'll have to show the archeologists how it used to look, huh?" 

"Sure!" Tails grinned back. "But tomorrow, I want to find that cat who took the Tornado. I want my plane back." 

"Our plane, little bro, our plane," Sonic said, slapping his friend on the back. 

On Monday all hell broke loose.


	32. Danger, water rising

At dawn Knuckles was awakened by a sinking sensation. For a moment he lay in bed, trying to recognize the feeling through his sleep-clouded head. Then he leaped out of bed and tore outside in a panic--the island was dropping again! 

The Floating Island crashed into the ocean for the second time in two weeks, creating a monstrous shockwave that beat the mile-distant shore with thunder. Knuckles picked himself up--it had knocked him down--and ran for his teleporter. Visions of a second Chaos filled his panicked head, and of the Master emerald laying all over the floor in fragments-- 

But when the echidna reached Hidden Palace, he found everything just as he had left it. No mess, the Master emerald in one piece, the super emeralds unharmed. Flustered and confused as he was, it took Knuckles a moment to realize that something had indeed changed. 

The Master emerald was dead. 

* * *

At that moment, miles and miles away, a much different but more horrible scene was being played out. 

Robotnik had emerged from his Final Egg fortress for some air. Engines on very low, he crept his hovercraft about the woods a few feet above the ground, too weary from his battle with Sonic to do much flying. Chaos was dead. The Egg Carrier was destroyed. There was always the Egg Carrier 2, but he had poured his resources into its mate, leaving the 2 a stripped-out shell that could do little more than fly. At the moment, the thought of complex political maneuvering to gain control of Sapphire City was very discouraging. The doctor was fed up with his goal of world dictatorship that morning and was ready to quit. 

Then he jerked his hovercraft to a halt and rose up in his seat in astonishment. A pool of water had seeped out of the woods and was pouring toward him in a mass. "Chaos!" Robotnik exclaimed in delight. "You're not dead!" 

A guttural snarl was his only reply. Chaos 0 grew into his small humanoid form and sprang at the hovercraft. Robotnik felt a sharp jolt as Chaos lifted his hovercraft into the air, then the sky and trees whirled around and blinked into darkness. 

* * *

"Sonic! Sonic!" Tails pounded frantically on Sonic's door. He heard Sonic groan sleepily and mumble, "Who is it?" 

"It's Tails! Sonic, the Floating Island fell again! I saw it!" 

Tails had been standing on his balcony, watching boats in the bay, when he noticed a distant blot of land strike the ocean ... 

Sonic's door unlocked and Sonic jerked it open, spines matted and eyes glassy with sleep. "What? Come in." 

Tails walked in, stepped around Sonic's sneakers and socks, tossed a newspaper from a chair in the corner and sat down. Sonic picked up his shoes and socks and retreated to the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes later, spines brushed and slicked back with water, sneaker straps flapping loose. He sat on the rumpled bed to fasten them and commanded, "Tell me what you said before. What about the Floating Island?" 

Tails told him as quickly as he could. For someone used to sleeping in, Sonic sure wasn't protesting. As Tails finished, Sonic sat and looked at him, digesting the news. "Tails," he said slowly, "we're in trouble now. "We'd better get out there, fast." 

The two raced out of the hotel, stopping just long enough to grab a donut apiece in the lobby. Then the two locked wrists, and Tails airlifted Sonic up and out over the sea, toward the island in the water. 

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense," said Knuckles. 

He had examined Hidden Palace from top to bottom, paying special attention to the emerald chamber. Nothing was out of place. Nothing to indicate why the Master emerald had been reduced from a power stone to a hunk of green glass. Maybe it had lost power when it shattered ... 

... or maybe the chaos emeralds caused it. 

The chaos emeralds did weird things to his island. Perhaps he shouldn't have brought them back with him. He had better take them to the mainland and give them to Sonic. Sonic would know what to do ... 

Knuckles gathered the six emeralds into his trusty satchel, pushing away the thought that although HE was learned in ancient lore, he knew less about how to use the chaos emeralds than a mainlander. 

He rode the teleporter back to the surface and trotted down toward the eastern rim of the island, about 200 yards distant. He could glide the mile or so to the coast, then head north to Sapphire City ... it wasn't that far ... 

He stopped with a gasp. 

At the bottom of a little hill was a wide flat area that served as a beach when the island was resting properly in the water. On the beach was Robotnik's hovercraft, lying on its side. A few feet away from it lay the doctor himself. 

Knuckles ran up and knelt beside him. Robotnik was soaked to the skin and only partly conscious. "Doc!" Knuckles exclaimed, dropping his satchel on the ground. "Doc, wake up!" 

Robotnik stirred and opened his eyes. "It's terrible!" he groaned. "C-Chaos is ..." 

"Is what?" Knuckles questioned. "Doc, Chaos is what?" 

Robotnik only shook his head and closed his eyes again. 

A sound. Knuckles turned his head. He glimpsed his bag, deflated-looking and sopping wet, and the vast pool of water lapping it. "CHAOS!" He screamed, leaping to his feet. But he was already too late. 

* * *

"Take us down, Tails," Sonic said. 

"Aye aye, skipper," Tails replied, clapping his heels together to deactivate his anklets. They sank down, and the island below came up to meet them. "Slower," Sonic called, and Tails held back a bit. It wouldn't do to bash them into the ground. "Okay, good, good," Sonic called. His feet touched down. He let go Tails' wrists and rubbed his arms, and Tails landed beside him a second later. 

"Now, where would Knux be?" Tails began, but he was struck dumb by a sound that rose from the trees to their left--a screaming roar of obvious triumph. 

Sonic blanched. He had heard that sound in his dream of Tikal. "C'mon!" he ordered, and the set off at a run toward the sound. 

Sonic had expected to find Knuckles, and so was not surprised to see the echidna lying on the ground. But he had not expected to see Robotnik and his hovercraft there, too. Sonic and Tails' feet squelched in the wet grass as they ran up. "Knuckles--and Robotnik! What happened here?" Sonic was too shocked to even think of what he should do. He had never seen Robotnik absolutely powerless before. 

Knuckles tried to speak, but gagged and coughed up water. He was drenched. He sat up, coughed wrackingly, then turned frightened--honestly frightened--eyes on Sonic "Sonic, Chaos is a fearsome beast. He attacked me for the emeralds--I couldn't defeat Chaos 6 without weapons!" He coughed again. Sonic crouched beside him, breathing hard, but not from running. "Knux--" "Sonic," Knuckles interrupted him, "if Chaos gets the last emerald we're done for." He grabbed the hedgehog's arm and shook a little. "The mural, Sonic! Remember the mural? That's what Chaos looks like with all seven emeralds!" 

Robotnik rolled over and sat up. He looked at Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, who looked back at him without fear. Nor was he afraid of them--they were not the enemy, now. "He's not going to get away with this!" Robotnik snarled. He pushed his hovercraft back upright, climbed into it and started the engines. "Robotnik, wait!" Sonic called, but the doctor had already whirled the ship about and was roaring away in the direction of the mainland. 

Suddenly Sonic exclaimed, "Hey, stop it! Aw, gee!" Tails and Knuckles looked at him to see Sonic flop down in a sitting position, head drooping and eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep. 

Knuckles stood. "Tails, I'm leaving. Don't worry about Sonic--it's another dream." 

Tails understood at once. "Tikal?" 

"Yeah." The echidna wrung out his dreadlocks. "Go after the last emerald as soon as he wakes up. Bye." Knuckles leaped off the edge of the island and glided away toward the mainland. Tails watched him go, wondering where he was going, then sat down to wait for Sonic to come to.


	33. Ancient city blazing

Sonic looked around. It was night, and he was standing on a paved stone path. Everything was bathed in red-gold light, as in his previous dream or vision or whatever. Wondering what he would see this time, he jogged up the path, arrived in sight of the shrine and saw a slightly different sight than before. 

The fire had only just been started; fuel was piled around the base of the shrine and lit, but the seven pillars with their emeralds were still standing. Silhouetted against the flames was what looked like an army of echidnas. Sonic circled around to see what they were doing. 

They were waiting in a group, ferocious warriors bedecked in feathers and warpaint. Their leader stood before them, a chieftain echidna in a fearsome mask, carrying a razor-tipped spear. But facing him was Tikal, all the chao huddled behind her in terror. 

"No, father!" she cried, holding out her arms as if that would stop the warriors from advancing. 

"Out of the way, Tikal!" commanded the chief. 

"No! I won't obey!" she cried. "Don't do this! I beg you!" 

"Tikal, we need those emeralds to give us total power!" her father said. "It's power for the people ... and they are your people too, you know!" He raised his spear and shook it at the shrine. "We will re-take the island with the emerald power behind us!" 

"Father, please!" Tikal said, voice cracking with emotion. "Destroying the guardians won't solve anything! You'll always want more power! Don't you see? You must stop before it's too late!" 

Then Sonic witnessed one of the most haunting moments in the history of the Floating Island. 

"Bah!" the chief bellowed. "I don't listen to the words of a child! Ready men--charge!" 

"Father!" Tikal shrieked as the warriors attacked, but she was powerless against them. Sonic saw her fall, struck a vicious blow with the butt of a spear, saw swordblades flash blood-red in the firelight, heard the cries of the chao. 

The hedgehog closed his eyes and covered his ears to shut out the awful scene. Seeing dead chao was bad enough, but seeing them killed was too much. He didn't look up until the warriors had finished their merciless task. Then the chief yelled, "To the Master emerald! We'll take it first!" With a chorus of battle cries, the echidnas swarmed up the steps of the little pyramid. 

From where he stood, Sonic had an excellent view of what happened next. 

He saw water splash out of the fountain and form into Chaos 0 at the top of the stairs, between the echidnas and the Master emerald. The chief and his men halted, piling into one another on the steps. "It's a monster!" Sonic heard the chief yell. 

The seven chaos emeralds moved from their pillars, glowing like fire against the night, and entered Chaos 0's body. 

Light--brighter than the fire, brighter than the sun--Sonic shielded his eyes. He heard the warriors scream and the chief cry, "NO!" and a huge rushing, crashing of water, then sudden silence. Sonic opened his eyes to see Chaos 2, the one with the hammerhead and two burly arms, standing alone on the stairs. As Sonic watched, Chaos strode down the stairs and stood among the fallen chao, looking at them with his featureless green eyes. He picked up one in his three fingered hands and held it a moment. Absolute silence. Sonic could see the chao's dark blood clouding the clear water in Chaos's hand. 

Then Chaos lost his mind. 

One moment Chaos was quiet, holding the chao. The next he gave a horrible scream, threw his head back, and began to change shape. He grew--up, up, into a pillar of water two stories, five stories, seven stories high, until his head, whatever it was, was lost in darkness. Then the water hit the ground and raced with the speed of a tidal wave into the night, driven by a thirst for revenge, goaded on by the blood of the dead chao in Chaos's water. 

The terrible roar in the distance. Sonic knew he had played this scene before--he crossed the pavement to Tikal, lying stunned in the grass. He numbly helped her up. But this time, when she cried, "I must stop him! He will destroy us all!" and climbed the stairs of the pyramid, Sonic followed her. 

It was murderously hot on top of the shrine. The air was full of smoke. Tikal laid her hands on the Master emerald, even though it must have been burning hot from the fire, and choked, "Stop Chaos, now!" The Master emerald, so dim before, flashed white, as Chaos had when he absorbed the emeralds. Sonic flinched-- 

And woke up. 

The blue hedgehog looked up at Tails, breathing heavily and eyes brimming with tears. "They killed the chao!" he babbled incoherently. "They killed the chao and he went nuts!" Sonic stood and wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. 

Tails was staring at him. "What?" 

Sonic shook his head. "Can't talk now. I'll tell you later. We've got to find the last emerald before he does." 

"That's what Knux said to do before he left. Um, are you okay?" Tails had never seen Sonic look like that before. 

Sonic only nodded. "No airlift this time, it's not fast enough. Let's juice!" 

"Sonic, wait for me!" 

But the hedgehog was already gone, streaking at three hundred miles an hour toward the coast. 

* * *

Big the Cat was not at home when Sonic and Tails got there. His neat, slightly sloppy shack was missing a fishing pole, so it was easy to tell where he was. The Tornado was lying near the bank of the little stream. Tails looked it over--it was bent, but not harmed too badly. The propeller with the emerald inside was still attached. "Good," Sonic said as they approached. "Let's get the emerald and get out of here." 

"Right," Tails agreed, lifting his drill. 

But as they reached the streambank, the water exploded upward in a column of white foam, engulfing the forward half of the biplane. Sonic threw himself in front of Tails, but there was no need; the column collapsed back into the stream. It left the propeller lying on the ground, bent and ruined, empty. 

"He's got the last emerald!" Tails cried. "Now what are we gonna do?" 

Sonic stood perfectly still for a long moment, staring at that empty propeller, the dripping biplane. "Tails," he said slowly, "we get back to Sapphire City, FAST!"


	34. What's gonna happen to us?

But even Sonic, with all his wonderful speed, was no match for Chaos. The monster had already returned to the sea as Sonic spoke, and was headed up the coast. Chaos had one thought on his wicked mind--destruction. 

Chaos had explored Sapphire City in his own way, when Robotnik had brought him ashore. This city of the echidnas was much bigger than the one he had destroyed before. Their population must have regrown while he had been imprisoned. Well, he would destroy their new city, too, and the next he came to, and the next, until he had wiped out all land-going creatures. He must avenge the chao he had failed to protect. 

The city had an extensive underground pipe system. If Chaos flooded the city from above, the water would eventually drain away through the pipes. (He had no idea what storm drains were for and thought they were only a defense against his assault.) Thus he must flood the pipes first and equalize the water level second. For a creature named Chaos, he was very orderly. 

The water rose two feet higher on the beaches for a hundred miles up and down the coast, and was held there by Chaos's incredible power. The shift started the seed of a tidal wave two hundred miles from the coast. By the time it reached the city he would be ready for it. In the meantime, he forced water up the drains, sewers, watermains, subways--any opening he could find--with the pressure of a firehose. 

On the surface, the people went about their daily business, completely unaware of the roaring water beneath the city. Rather, their attention was focused on a special news broadcast starring a red echidna, who was on live, warning people to evacuate to the eastern part of the city, which was built into the hills, above sea level. The reporters scoffed at him, but the echidna was so serious--almost desperate--it caught peoples' attention. "A tidal wave!" they chortled to each other, and yet looked anxiously toward the beach where the water had risen for no reason. A fourth of the city's population suddenly remembered they had urgent business on the east side of town. 

By this time Chaos had flooded all the lower regions and was pumping on the pressure. Maybe piping wasn't such a bad thing--it made the destruction of the city much quicker and more complete. 

In Station Square, Amy and her family watched the newscast anxiously. They lived only a block from the beach. "That's Knuckles!" Amy told her parents. "He knows that he's talking about--we'd better leave!" 

Her father squinted at the screen a moment, then said, "We'll take the Speed Highway." 

It was a fortunate choice. 

In the center of the city, surrounded by people in cars, on sidewalks, minding their own business, the roar of the water in the mains beneath the street was inaudible. It did not remain that way for long. The manhole covers trembled a few seconds--then blasted sky-high. Up and down the street water blasted into the air in twenty-foot geysers. Cars screeched to a halt, people screamed. 

From the direction of the ocean there came a massive cracking sound. The asphalt was splitting as the watermains burst under the terrific pressure. Water spurted up through the cracks, fire hydrants exploded in white plumes, cars tilted and rolled on the jagged pavement. Water filled the street. 

Indoors, faucets blew their tops, drains and toilets overflowed, sprinkling systems exploded. Pipes burst in the walls. Entire floors flooded. People tried to escape their high-rise traps, but there was water everywhere and electricity had shorted out. 

Windows burst out of the skyscraper windows and doors, glass flying into the crowds of bewildered people below. Sirens wailed. The water was rising in the streets, foot by steady foot. People screamed. 

Then a new cry swept the city, and all eyes turned seaward. A hill had appeared on the horizon, growing higher and more terrible with each moment--a tidal wave. Behind it was gathered a great darkness--a storm called by Chaos. 

The tidal wave, ten stories high, struck the breakwater at the outside of the bay. But such was Chaos's strength and fury it only crested and did not slow. It roared down upon Sapphire City, a mountain of destruction. 

Skyscrapers vanished. Others withstood the beating for a fraction of a second, all windows blowing out, then collapsed. Streets disappeared, cars became debris, people died. The wave rolled onward, a symbol of Chaos's power, until it had consumed all the lower city. It reached the bluffs inland and stopped, but did not return to the sea. Chaos would hold the water where it was until he had destroyed every building and every land-dweller had drowned. 

Amy and her family had made it to high ground. The Speed Highway did not collapse at once as the tidal wave swept under it, and their racing cars had reached the offramp to East Sapphire by the time the highway began to to sag. 

The rapidly approaching storm swept across the sky with a roll of thunder and a few drops of rain. It grew dim and grey. The city took on a surreal appearance, with the remaining skyscrapers leaning at odd angles, windows broken out, many still streaming water. The voices of survivors were the only sounds as they cried for help, but there was no one to help them yet--the remaining part of the city was still staring in shock at its submerged half. 

The windows of a still-streaming skyscraper exploded out, and water gushed forth. But instead of pouring downward, the water remained in a lump, swirling and changing shape as if in zero gravity. Then it lengthened and solidified into a giant head, like a moray eel's, with the mouth extending far back under the eyes. The jaws opened, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, and the beast roared--a screaming, terrifying roar of fierce triumph. Then Chaos opened his green eyes--no longer flat and featureless, but with slit pupils--to look upon the devastation he had wreaked.


	35. Shadows keep attacking

It was this scene of horror and grief that met Sonic and Tails as they topped the last rise. They stopped and stared at the water, so far inland, at the wretched sky scrapers poking through the surface. "We're too late!" Sonic wailed. "He beat us!" 

They stared at the silent city for a long time. Gone was Station Square. Gone was the train station and the friendly clerk who had sold them their shoes and anklets. The casino and Twinkle Park were demolished, and most of the Speed Highway was fifty feet underwater. 

The two did not move until a shape rose out of the water in the distance, taller than the bits of building, and form into the head and torso of a monster. As they watched, the beast attacked a building with teeth and weight, ripping it to shreds as a dog would tear a sock. 

"Perfect Chaos," Sonic said expressionlessly. 

Then he was gone, racing down toward the water's edge. "Sonic, wait for me!" Tails called for the second time that day, but again, Sonic didn't listen. 

The hedgehog sprinted across the water's surface, toward Perfect Chaos. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he was going to do something. The monster was ripping the building to pieces with obvious relish, slinging his head about and growling to himself. By the time Sonic had gotten close enough to see him clearly, Perfect Chaos had brought the building to the water level. But before Sonic could get much closer, the monster melted into the water and vanished. 

Sonic kept running until he found a wide section of Speed Highway, resting near the water's surface. He leaped onto it, panting, and looked about him. Chaos could be anywhere. But how could a monster so powerful, so quick, be defeated? COULD he be defeated? Look at what he did, hedgehog. Look what he did. How many people lost their lives here today? You should have tried harder to stop him, should have kept Robotnik from getting the chaos emeralds, should have ... 

"Sonic!" 

He looked up to see Knuckles gliding overheard, circling like a bird. The echidna dropped to the highway section, rocking it a little. "Careful," Sonic warned. "What are you doing here?" 

Knuckles looked down at his silver claws. "I was trying to warn them." 

"Who? The humans?" 

"Yeah. I think some of them paid attention. Sonic, listen to me. There's no way we can defeate Chaos without help, but we can help his victims." 

Sonic waved to the devastation about them. "You mean people actually survived this?" 

Knuckles nodded. "Yes, and most are wounded." 

Unexpectedly Sonic felt hot tears behind his eyes. Why was this getting to him? Was it because he had never seen a large disaster before? 

"No time for that," Knuckles said sternly, slapping Sonic's back. (He didn't mention, of course, that he had already cried his eyes out in the privacy of a rooftop.) "You can help. Where's Tails?" 

"He's coming." Sonic rubbed his eyes and set his teeth. "Let's go spoil Chaos's fun." 

Tails arrived and was told of what they intended to do. Tails looked a little frightened, but agreed to help any way he could. 

It began to pour rain as they searched for survivors. They were difficult to locate in the rain, but slowly the three began to find them--a man here, a woman there, two children huddled in a windowsill above the water. These they carried or floated to any flat above-water surface they could find nearby. 

Two hours later and streaming water, the three sat on a building wall with a huddle of victims, heads bowed miserably under the rain. Tails lifted his head first. "A helicopter," he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. It was a full minute before Knuckles and Sonic heard the thump-thump-thump of the chopper. They waved wildly as it came into view, searchlights piercing through the rain. It looked as good as an angel to the group on the building. It hovered over them, wind from its rotors fanning their wet faces, and dropped two medics and a stretcher. "You hurt?" one yelled at the mobians. "No!" Sonic yelled back. "We've been pulling people out of the water! Help them!" He pointed to the nine humans, and the medics moved in their direction. 

Before long all the humans had been evacuated. The mobians' spirits rose with the thought of additional help, and they set out to find more survivors. 

By noon the three were worn out. They had seen more casualties than survivors, and more and more were hurt, some badly. As they waited for one group--mostly children--to be picked up, Sonic retreated a short distance and sat with his head in his hands. Tails walked up and sat beside him. It was several minutes before Sonic looked up, and when he did his eyes were full of tears, although the rain made it hard to tell. "They had no warning," he said softly. "Look at these kids. Some of 'em are just babies. They shouldn't have to go through what I did." Tails realized Sonic was seeing himself in their faces, as he had lived through Robotnik's coup of Mobitropolis, and it was very similar. The hedgehog's face hardened. "I've got to do something to Chaos--make him pay." 

"But what?" Tails asked sensibly. "We have no way of stopping him. He's too big." The fox leaned wearily against Sonic and closed his eyes. The relief work was affecting him, too. 

The helicopter came and went, leaving the three alone again, and Sonic made no effort to move. He sat where he was and stared at the dark water, as if waiting for something. Knuckles and Tails implored him to keep on, but the hedgehog refused. "Just leave me alone," he snapped. 

Knuckles and Tails backed off. "It's really getting to him," Tails told Knuckles in a low voice. "It reminds him of Robotropolis." 

Knuckles wiped the water off his face. "It's bothering me, too, but we can't stop now. I'll see if I can--" 

Knuckles and Tails whirled, and Sonic leaped to his feet. With a splash, a pillar of water burst from the surface not fifty feet away, rose seven stories, arched at the top and solidified into Perfect Chaos. He was enormous, and gave a heart-stopping roar to underline it. He didn't notice them--he was proudly looking over his destruction for more targets. (When the water sank afterward, it became apparent that while he was underwater he was busily smashing everything beneath the surface.) 

Suddenly, from out of the sky flew the little pink ball of light that had led Sonic and Knuckles through the pyramid. It flew up to Sonic and hovered before him. He held a hand under it, and at last made the connection. "You're the one who sealed Chaos in the Master emerald!" he exclaimed. "Tikal!" 

The 'fairy' moved back a little, blinked and grew. It's glow faded and there stood the orange-furred echidna girl all three had met in dreams. "Tikal!" they gasped in unison. 

"When I sealed Chaos in the emerald," Tikal said, her voice soft, "I was sealed in it, too. I knew not why--until we were released by the madman you call Robotnik. I knew I must warn his foes of the danger he had unleashed, so I gave you your 'visions', replayed from my own memory." 

"Why did we wake up in different places?" asked Tails, so interested in Tikal he had almost forgotten Chaos. 

She smiled. "Simple teleportation." Her smile disappeared. "You have seen what Chaos has done to this city. If let alone, he will destroy the world, as he tried to before. He must be sealed back the emerald, before it's too late." 

Tails turned and looked toward the ocean without a word, ears picked. Sonic, Knuckles and Tikal followed his gaze. 

"Eggman," said Sonic 

Flying toward the drowned city was a duplicate of the Egg Carrier. Robotnik alone was piloting it--Metal Sonic had refused to accompany him. It was extended in battle mode, loaded down with weapons installed hastily to destroy Chaos with. "The Egg Carrier 2 was built because something like this could happen," Robotnik growled to himself. "You have defied your master, stupid beast." 

As he drew nearer, Perfect Chaos turned his head and looked up at the ship. He himself was bigger than the Carrier, and a thousand times stronger. He opened his jaws and laughed at his former master--a horrid, throaty cackle. 

The nose of the Carrier opened to reveal the same laser that had blown away Tails's biplane. On a gray strip of asphalt below, four tiny mobians ducked, but neither monster noticed them. Chaos roared in defiance, and the Egg Cannon fired. The powerful green bolt struck Chaos's middle. The monster swayed, steamed and bubbled, but did not back down. Robotnik armed his missiles. Lasers only heated Chaos and did not harm him. 

But before Robotnik could fire, Chaos returned the attack. He lowered his dragon head, and a blue glow appeared in his throat. When it had grown nearly too bright to look at, Chaos raised his head and opened his mouth. A giant blue bolt of flame flashed forth. Chaos swung his head back, and his bolt cut through the Egg Carrier 2 like a knife through moist bread. 

Perfect Chaos closed his jaws to extinguish his flame, then he laughed again. The Carrier was going down, a huge cloud of smoke rolling from it. It vanished behind the cracked skyline, and a moment later there was a spurt of fire and water, and smoke billowed up in a cloud. 

Chaos bent his neck and shook his head like a horse would shake its mane. A group of small particles broke through his watery skin, fell and struck the pavement where the four mobians stood. "Catch them!" Tikal cried. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles ran about, catching the things before they fell into the water. They brought them to Tikal and heaped them on the asphalt. They all knew what they were. The seven chaos emeralds, but drained of all color or glow. Tikal picked one up and looked at it in horror. "He has absorbed the emeralds' power!" She looked at Knuckles, the present-day guardian of the Floating Island, thousands of years after her time, but still every bit of an echidna as she was. "He must be sealed in the Master emerald, now!" 

Knuckles returned her gaze. How could he tell her that even if they succeeded in putting Chaos back in prison, the emerald was not whole, and would not contain him as before? 

Off to one side, the mainlander hedgehog with no ties to ancient history was thinking furiously. He didn't understand how they could imprison Chaos so easily,and if he broke out again, what then? The whole thing would start all over again. Sonic remembered Chaos standing quietly, holding the dead chao in his clawed but gentle hand. The chao. That was it. Chao were the key. 

"No!" Sonic blurted, stepped up to Tikal. "Trapping him won't do it. He's gotta see the chao." 

Tikal stared at him. "What chao?" 

Sonic looked desperately at Tails and Knuckles "Guys, he may have killed the chao in the hotel, but we've got the try to find them. He went nuts because the chao got killed. If he sees live ones, maybe ..." he trailed off, for there was no need to explain further. Knuckles and Tails looked at each other in sudden realization. "I could fly out and look," Tails volunteered, "and if they're trapped, Knux can break 'em out!" 

He was interrupted by a ferocious roar from Perfect Chaos, which was beginning to move off across the drowned city. All four looked up at him fearfully, then Tikal picked up an emerald and thrust it at Sonic. "Here." 

He looked at it blankly. "What?" 

"Use these and challenge him. He mustn't attack your friends while they look for the chao." 

Sonic looked down at the dull grey gem, and frowned. "But they're dead!" 

"What difference does it make?" 

Sonic pointed at Perfect Chaos. "YOU expect ME to attack HIM with a bunch of dead emeralds? Hah! That'd be suicide, man! I should have brought my belt." 

Knuckles turned. "You didn't bring your belt, Sonic?" 

Sonic glared at him, but it was himself he was angry at, not his friends. "No, I didn't. I left it home in case Knothole had trouble, stupid me." 

Knuckles bounded forward and gathered up the seven emeralds. "Is there any chance they're being used right now?" 

"Maybe," Sonic said doubtfully. "Sally was only to use them in an emergency. Why? What's up?" 

"We'll have to chance it," Knuckles muttered. He deftly arranged the chaos emeralds in a circle, then unclipped the metal panel on top of his shoe. From it he took out a small green gem, also without a glow. "You've got the miniatures of the supers, I've got one of the Master," Knuckles explained, setting it in the middle of the circle. "But the Master went dead this morning, so I hope this works ..." The three onlookers exchanged a glance and said nothing. Tikal had never seen the Guardian at work, either. 

Knuckles drew a breath and said, "Master emerald, power transfer." 

In Hidden Palace, all the super emeralds lit like searchlights and focused their light on the Master emerald. 

In Sapphire City, the green stone began to glow. After a moment the chaos emeralds began to glow, too. "They power they lent to the super emeralds is being returned," Knuckles said quietly. Sonic and Tails glanced at each other. What would happen to the super emeralds now? 

The chaos emeralds flickered and their color returned with a rush. The tiny Master emerald dimmed, but did not die--showing that its mother gem was doing the same in Hidden Palace. 

"Take it, Sonic," said Knuckles.


	36. If he won't stop there will be no future for us

No matter how much pleasure Perfect Chaos derived from ripping the city to shreds, it did not make him happy. Nothing would ever make him happy again. Not with the image of the dead chao engraved into his memory--not with the scent of their blood forever embedded in his heart. He would never forget, and he would never forgive. Only the death of all land-dwelling things would satisfy his guilt, or so he thought. He did not foresee the day when, as the only living creature in the world, he would still be left in anguish. 

But now, having drained the emeralds of all their power, Chaos was bored with tearing apart buildings. (How flimsy they were! Nothing like the solid stone structures of before.) He wanted blood to drown that of the chao. He wanted to kill, as he had the echidna army and their people. He raised his dragon head to look for flood survivors. 

Perfect Chaos was thus engaged when Sonic confronted him. 

"Hey you!" 

Chaos lifted his head a few feet and looked with one green eye. His jaws, teeth and the water about him was stained red. Well within reach stood that pesky hedgehog who had defeated him at all his stages of development, but the hedgehog was now glowing a hot yellow. He was hovering a couple inches above the water. 

Chaos moved fast, but Super Sonic moved faster. Sonic shot out of reach of the striking head and bared teeth. "Ornery today, aren't we, slimy?" Sonic taunted. "Why not pick on me instead of those poor people who can't fight back? THEY didn't kill your chao." 

Perfect Chaos struck again, and again Sonic sidestepped. "You are REALLY ugly!" Sonic yelled as he shot around and around the monster. Chaos twisted his head about, trying to spot him. "You're even uglier than Metal Sonic!" 

That pitiful robot? All right, if the hedgehog wanted to fight, a fight they would have. Chaos melted into the water. 

* * *

Sonic had not been Supersonic in years. Hypersonic was more powerful, but Supersonic ... didn't know. It felt different, somehow. Maybe the chaos emeralds WERE as strong as the super emeralds, but in a different way. 

No time to puzzle over it now--there was a monster to kill. 

Sonic shot straight up into the air and landed on the roof of a leaning skyscraper. Where had Perfect Chaos gone? Ah, there he was--just lifting his ugly head out of the water several blocks away. Supersonic plunged down into the flooded street and was away like a yellow lightning bolt. 

Tikal had told him, just before he left his friends, that in order to subdue Chaos, he must hit his brain, as Sonic had done before. But it was not so simple as a mere blow to the head. Perfect Chaos had a skull of cartilage that protected his brain. Sonic would have to gain enough speed on the inrun to enter Chaos's body wall at the waterline where it was at its thinnest, spiral up the trunk and strike Chaos's brain from below. Sonic didn't know if he had the nerve to carry out such an attack, but he intended to try. Too many people had died this day. 

Perfect Chaos lowered his head, and from the spines on his back there came a shower of fireballs, each as big as a house. Sonic kept going, flying almost flat over the water, a curling wave in his wake, eyes made orange by the emeralds, teeth clenched. The fireballs whooshed overhead and struck the water behind him with an explosion of foam. 

The monster was nearer, nearer, overhead, the wide flank looming up like a monstrous wall, covered in tiny ripples--Supersonic pierced through like an arrow. Inside the monster's body was a powerful upward current of water, sweeping up to the head, maintained by the power of the chaos emeralds. Sonic shot upward, eyes open but everything a blur. Being only Supersonic would not save him from drowning, nor enable him with undersea sight. He saw a hot pink blur above him, against the darkness of Chaos's head. He steered for it and curled into a ball of glowing spines. 

Perfect Chaos's head exploded in white fire. A million tons of water crashed into the sea, and Chaos's agonized scream echoed across the city. 

Supersonic landed on his feet panting, but triumphant. It had worked! He just hoped Chaos would come back for more. Again the glowing hedgehog leaped to a rooftop to spot his enemy. 

It was a moment before Perfect Chaos reappeared, this time almost a mile away. Sonic dropped to the water's surface and flashed away after him. 

Perfect Chaos was furious with the pain, and at the drain it had added to his power. Let that hedgehog try to get within five hundred feet of him! 

As Sonic rounded the corner down the aisle of buildings, Perfect Chaos let loose the same fiery laserbolt that had brought the Egg Carrier 2 to its knees. It swept the water with a ferocious hiss, heating the water to boiling in a split second. Chaos closed his jaws and surveyed the street. That should have vaporized his enemy-- 

Again Chaos's head split in fire, again the water crashed from midair, again Chaos's scream echoed across the city. 

When Perfect Chaos reground again, it was only at the other end of the street. Sonic would not have enough time to gather the speed he needed. Supersonic saw this at once, but he decided to give it a shot anyway. He only made it halfway up the street when Chaos hit him with the laserblast. 

Supersonic was thrown backward by the force of the blast, smashed through an interfering building and out the other side, and dashed into the water. 

Dizzily Sonic pulled himself onto a telephone pole and sat on it for a moment, letting his head clear. Invincibility or no invincibility, he had felt that one. 

* * *

Tails sat on the tilted corner of a rooftop, a shivering chao in his arms. But his eyes were fixed over his shoulder, at Chaos in the distance. "C'mon Sonic, kick his tail this time!" the fox muttered. He could see the monster very clearly, for the rain had let up as soon as the battle began, almost as if Chaos had commanded it. 

A few feet away, on the gently sloping roof, was a big jagged hole in the plaster. Crouched near it was Tikal, another chao in her arms. She rocked back and forth and murmured soothing words, gazing into the hole all the while. 

After a moment there came splashing from inside the drowned building, and Knuckles' head appeared. He held up a chao to Tikal, who took it from him. "Are there any more?" she asked. 

"Yeah," Knuckles said, already turning back into the darkness. "But I donno how many made it." 

Tikal made a soft, sad sound and looked up at Tails. The fox was still looking at Perfect Chaos with helpless anger in his eyes. "Tails ..." He glanced at her. "Tails, Sonic can't kill him. He can only diminish his power." 

Tails shot a fiery look at Tikal. "He can try, can't he?" 

Suddenly there came a flash from the horizon, and Perfect Chaos's shape vanished in a fountain of fire. The beast's scream floated out to them over the water. Tails jumped to his feet. "Yes! Yes! Go Supersonic!" 

Tikal only sighed and turned away. 

* * *

Supersonic stood on a skyscraper for a long time, scanning the city with his eyes. Nothing moving but the rescue helicopters here and there. Perfect Chaos was gone. And yet the seawater did not drain back into the ocean--something still held the tide in. Chaos must be only lurking, nursing his wounded malice. 

Sonic jumped off the building and sped toward the area where Station Square used to be. Now it was as unrecognizable as the rest of the city. The Sunset hotel was nearly submerged and leaning to one side, which left only a corner of its roof above water. This section was what Knuckles had broken through to reach the chao garden on the top floor. 

Sonic saw Tails sitting on the roof's corner and leaped up beside him. 

"Did you kill him?" Tails asked eagerly. 

Sonic shook his glowing head. "I donno, little bro. Tikal, how're the chao?" 

Tikal was seated as well as she could on the rooftop with six chao huddled around her. She looked up at Sonic. "Most of them didn't survive." 

The hedgehog winced and saw for a moment the bloodied chao lying silently in the grass. He took the chao Tails was holding and stroked its damp head with uncharacteristic tenderness. 

Knuckles handed another chao to Tikal and climbed out of the hole. "That's all," he said shortly. He looked at Supersonic. "Well?" 

Sonic shook his head. "He never came back up. I don't know where he went." 

Suddenly the light around them brightened. The clouds overhead were rolling apart, sunlight pouring down in cheerful shafts. The mobians and chao alike looked up and inhaled, as if the simple sight of the sin had the strength to lift their spirits. "His power has weakened," said Tikal. 

Tails jumped off the roof margin he had been sitting on and clutched his tails to his chest. The group watched in silence as a shark fin cut through the water not five feet from the edge of the building. 

"But it hasn't weakened enough," said Knuckles 

Every scavenger fish for hundred of miles had been called to the city, led on by Chaos's promise of blood and carrion. He knew how to fight dirty. If the hedgehog was so intent on defeating him, then Chaos's friends would devour the flood victims behind his back. 

"Sonic, it's not over," said Tikal softly. 

Sonic handed the chao to her. "Not yet it isn't," he said grimly. "I'm gone." And he was.


	37. All the pain at stake

Perfect Chaos's ugly head reared out of the water again, green eyes searching for his little enemy. Supersonic would not get near him again. They were equal in power--had not Chaos all the city at his disposal? 

Supersonic shot up a flooded street toward Chaos, keeping low, as if hoping to avoid the monster's notice. But Chaos had sharp eyes, especially when angry. He whipped his head about and launched a barrage of fireballs at Sonic, three times hotter and seven times faster than before. Two of them struck the hedgehog, pounding him backward and down into the water. Sonic righted himself, shook the water from his ears, and started forward again, only to be stopped dead and thrown backward by a laserbolt from Chaos's jaws. 

A Supersonic gathered himself for another rush, Chaos melted into the water in triumph, to reappear elsewhere. The hedgehog hadn't a chance. As far as Chaos was concerned, they could battle until the drowned city fell apart with age. 

"This won't work," Sonic thought as he tried to figure out a way to reach Perfect Chaos's new position. "I've got to hide until I'm right up to him, then hit him before he can react." The hedgehog's orange eyes narrowed as he gazed at the mess of buildings and collapsed highway. He had not spent most of his life running sabotage missions in Robotropolis for nothing. He had a good head for layouts and maps, and this served him well, even in a wilderness of partially-submerged buildings. 

Perfect Chaos cocked his head. He could hear the faint rushing sound Supersonic made when he flew over the water, but the skyscraper tops hid him from view. Chaos waited, watching. 

Sonic shot out of an alley and straight into Chaos's side. There came a brief yellow spiral up Chaos's neck, then the monster's head burst into blue flame that hissed into the water below. Chaos's body deformed, and his furious, agonized scream tore the air. 

Four hits! Perfect Chaos was running on the power of only three emeralds now! How dare that hedgehog challenge Chaos! How DARE he!! 

Chaos came up fighting. He rose in the same spot, looking for Sonic, wanting to rip his to shreds. The hedgehog had taken refuge nearby--Chaos could sense his presence. 

In berserk rage the monster attacked the buildings around him, cracking and throwing them down with tremendous strength. Those he could not immediately reach he blew apart with his fiery breath, until presently Chaos was standing in a wide open area, safe from sneak attackers. 

Or so he thought. 

Supersonic had dove deep underwater, until, far down, he reached the pavement on the ground. From there he looked up, and above him, like a tunnel reaching into the air, was Chaos. Sonic shoved off the ground and shot up like a bullet, accelerating underwater almost as quickly as in air. 

Again Chaos's head exploded in fire, this time golden with his wrath. But now he was craftier. Sonic must not be allowed to pull a stunt like that again. He reformed inside a skyscraper, as he had done at first, melting his head through the windows. His body was inside all the floors, his brain safely inaccessible. Let the hedgehog try to reach him now. 

Supersonic saw Chaos's scheme. There was no way he could reach Chaos in there. "He can sit there all day for all I care," Sonic muttered. "I'm gonna see if I can help the survivors around here." 

The glowing hedgehog collected a small crowd of people on a reasonably secure rooftop over the next hour and a half. There were sharks everywhere, along with barracudas and schools of scavenger fish that were feasting royally on the dead, and attacking the living whenever they came upon them. Sonic fought a hand-to-jaw battle with a tiger shark over a little girl, and emerged dripping but victorious, carrying the frightened girl in his arms. 

He used himself as a signal to attract a helicopter, then took off to find Chaos. It wouldn't do to have the monster kill the people he had just rescued. 

The building Perfect Chaos had inhabited was empty. The whole area was deathly quiet but for the lapping of water at the plentiful debris. Sonic floated and looked about suspiciously. Where had Chaos gone? Had he followed Sonic to where those people were and ...? 

Sonic whirled to go back, and ran straight into Perfect Chaos's waiting jaws. 

The monster's mouth could have held a five-story building laid sideways easily. The teeth were the only solid parts in Chaos's whole body; each two feet long and serrated like knives. They pointed backward in rows, toward Chaos's gullet. 

Chaos was not interested in swallowing Sonic--he wanted to chew him to bits. Supersonic was caught between the jaws and bitten with all the strength Perfect Chaos had in him. But Supersonic didn't cut. Invincibility saw to that. But it did not keep him from feeling the horrible sensation of teeth crushing into his body. 

Chaos opened and closed his jaws, chewing determinedly. Sonic was just as determined to get away, and after a good five minutes he succeeded in dropping to the water and fleeing from Chaos's sight. He needed to rest after that little ride. 

But Chaos had other ideas. He went after Sonic furiously, pouring through the buildings in a semi-liquid state, looking for him. 

Sonic crouched in a corner, panting, a deadly look in his eyes. He had had enough. 

When Chaos's partly liquid head came into sight, green eyes searching and brain glowing brightly, Supersonic shot like a bullet up through his lower jaw and into his head. 

* * *

"Quickly, we must get the chao to Chaos!" Tikal shouted. She, Tails and Knuckles were sitting in a helicopter, the side door open and the wind whipping their faces. All of them were looking out at where Chaos had just been, but there was now a burning pillar of flame, taller than the buildings around it. 

"But how can he be down?" Knuckles yelled over the helicopter noise. "He only got hit six times!" 

"He has no power left!" Tikal shouted back. "If he used the power of the last emerald, he would die. Pilot, land there, hurry!" 

The chopper dropped with a sickening lurch and touched down on a section of highway not far from the burning curtain. Tikal, Tails and Knuckles piled out, each with an armful of chao. The pilot lifted off at once, afraid of his close proximity to the monster. 

Sudden silence fell. The three could hear their panting and the panting of the chao, and the beating of slowly dying waves at the buildings around them. The pillar of flame had shrank to a small white mass burning on the water's surface--the last of Chaos's endoskeleton. 

Something fell to their highway strip from above with a thud. They all jumped and gasped, but it was only Sonic, his normal shade of blue once more. He sat down on the pavement with a sigh, tired out and soaking wet. Tails started to ask him if he was all right, but Tikal and Knuckles silenced him with, "Shhh!" and pointed to another highway strip below. 

Chaos was pouring up onto the road, not as a proud dragon, but as small, lowly Chaos 0. He solidified and stood up, his green eyes flat and featureless once more. He seemed to still be hunting for Sonic. 

Tikal motioned to the chao and hopped down onto the road. Chaos spun to face her, but did not attack her. He recognized Tikal. She had tried to save the chao when he should have been protecting them. She was perhaps the only friend he had. 

Slowly the rescued chao climbed or jumped down with Tikal and Chaos. Several of them bounced toward him fearlessly. Chaos stared with blank green eyes, perfectly still. 

"These are the chao you were protecting," Tikal said in a low voice. "They were not all killed. They survived for generations and now live peacefully with humans and mobians." 

By this time all the chao were grouped around Chaos's feet, chattering and murmuring. Chaos gazed down at them and touched their heads tenderly with his watery hands. They had not all died. They were alive. He had not failed after all. Slowly, the rage and hatred in his heart grew cold and died. He had forgiven. 

"Chaos had changed again," Tails observed from above, very quietly. "This time for the better." Sonic only smiled a little and said nothing. 

Tikal looked up at the three on the highway above. "Thank you so much!" she said, clasping her hands together. They grinned down at her and nodded or shrugged or gave her a thumbs up. Chaos, too, looked up and saw Sonic, but he didn't hate the hedgehog anymore. He lifted one claw in a motion that Knuckles recognized as the ancient echidna salute. He elbowed Sonic and whispered, "Bow!" Sonic bowed from the waist, and Chaos nodded and turned away. 

Tikal walked up to Chaos and extended a hand. "Let's go home," she said softly. Chaos hesitated a second, looking at the chao, then slowly placed his claw in her hand. 

The two vanished as if they had never been, and the three on the highway looked at each other as if it were a dream they were waking up from. But it had not been a dream, for the city stood in shambles about them, and the little group of chao still stood on the road below. "Where did they go?" Tails asked in confusion. 

Knuckles had a faraway look in his eyes. "To a past that might have been," he murmured. He caught Sonic's eye. "You know what became of Chaos, I think." 

Sonic frowned. "I do? What became of him--I don't know--" He stopped. He remembered the room in the pyramid with the mural of Chaos and the oddly rippling water. Chaos--the good Chaos, saying hello in his own way. Sonic had not understood at the time, but now ... 

The water all around them began to move. Without Chaos's power to hold it there, it would drain back into the sea. "It's gonna go out as hard as it came in," Knuckles said, returning to the present abruptly. "You two, get the chao. I'm gonna signal the helicopter." With Sonic no longer glowing, Knuckles' red body was the most visible of the three. 

Two minutes later they were airborne, huddled in the floor, surrounded by helicopter noise, the chao lying in an exhausted heap on the floor. But even in all the racket they could hear the rushing of the water as it foamed below, sucking debris and much down into the ocean. Buildings shifted, highways cracked and were dragged along in chunks. The water level dropped so quickly it seemed to Tails that they were rising into the air. Fascinated, he braced himself and peered out the door. The retreating water left the city naked to the eye, and the extent of Chaos's fury was revealed. Only a skyscraper stood here and there. Everything under three stories had been crushed and splintered. Cars had been washed into huge heaps by currents and lay like piles of dead beetles. 

Two objects caught the fox's eye--one far inland, the other lying on the coast like a beached whale. As the water drained to a few feet and stopped roaring, Tails recognized them. Both of the Egg Carriers. One was the wreck Chaos had shot down, and the other was the one that had crashed a week earlier. The tidal wave had lifted the crashed one out of the bay and deposited it high and dry in the residential section of the city. 

Tails remembered seeing Robotnik helpless, where Chaos had thrown him on the Floating Island. Had the doctor been killed when the second Egg Carrier went down? He had to wonder. 

Sonic crawled over and sat beside Tails, holding onto the doorframe and looking out the door. He was still wet, but no longer dripping. His eyes, back to their cool green, had a hint of sadness in them as he looked down at the city. Tails put a hand on his friend's shoulder and grinned. They had won, after all. Sonic gave him a small smile, but the sadness in his eyes remained unchanged. His smile widened a little, and he pointed. Tails looked. 

Flying southward, black against the blue sky there, was a small round hovercraft. "He made it!" Tails said in disbelief, his voice drowned by the helicopter noise. He looked at Sonic, and they both shrugged. Some things would never change.


	38. Epilogue

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were given a hero's welcome as they touched down in the half of the city built above the flood level. They had, after all, defeated Perfect Chaos. Amy and the flicky family were on hand to welcome them, and Sonic was relieved to see them. Although he had never mentioned it, the safety of Amy had weighed heavily on his heart all day. 

But as the sun set, Sonic and Tails were glad to retire to a motel room--not as nice as the Sunset Resort, but it was a place to rest and escape the crowds. 

They sat in chairs pulled up to the balcony and watched the sun set into the ocean. Sonic had circles around his eyes, and his spines drooped. "I'm tired, Tails," he commented. 

Tails looked at the hedgehog slouched in the chair. "So'm I." He paused a moment and folded his hands. "So ... what was it like? Fighting him, I mean?" 

Sonic looked at him as if trying to put it into words. He lifted a hand, and let it fall. "Not now," he murmured. "I'm too tired to go through it again." 

But Tails wanted to talk and pressed on determinedly. "Is Knux here?" 

Sonic could answer that one. "No. He went home. He's wiped, too, and he has an island to look after." 

Silence. The sliver of red shrank to a fingernail, then vanished. A faint breeze touched their faces. 

"What're we gonna do with the chaos emeralds?" A pressing question. Tails looked toward the dresser, a drawer of which contained the seven gems. 

Sonic closed his eyes and opened them again. "Knux said to keep 'em. Take 'em to Knothole. That way Robotnik can't get his mitts on them." 

Sonic rose heavily and walked to his bed. "I'm gonna crash now," he said, flipped back the blankets and sitting down to take off his shoes. "I'm beat." 

"Okay," Tails nodded. "I'm gonna stay up a little longer." 

Sonic climbed between the sheets and relaxed with a heavy sigh. Tails listened to his breathing grow slow and even. Slowly the little room grew dark as the evening sky faded, and a star came out. Tails sat, fur ruffled by the slight breeze. It was peaceful here. At least Chaos had not reached this part of town ... 

Sonic got up and padded to Tails, sitting in his chair and sound asleep. "Now whose the sleepy one?" he murmured. He lifted the fox and carried him to the other bed. He should have guessed Tails would fall asleep before he did. Sonic pulled the covers over him, softly closed the sliding outside door, then climbed back in bed. 

Chaos had been defeated, but not by force. Tikal had been right all along. But the city ... Sonic was grieved over the city and the needless death. He could do nothing about it. No one expected him to, he guessed, but he wanted to help somehow. Do something to help make it right. But what? He thought of the chaos emeralds. He could donate them to help power the city. 

He thought of the last two weeks, of flying the Tornado, snowboarding, riding the bumpercars in Twinkle Park, running around Speed Highway, exploring the Egg Carrier. Yes, all in all, he had enjoyed himself. Not to mention he had decided Amy wasn't so bad after all, and they had rescued that family of flickies. 

He heard Tails sigh and turn over. Tails was safe. Knuckles and Amy were safe. Maybe that was what he had been fighting for all long. Not just the city, but his friends, too. If that was true, then he had not failed at all. 

Sonic rolled over and slept. 

* * *

Sapphire City was rebuilt, with chaos emeralds powering backup generators. Tails fixed the Tornado, and he and Sonic flew back north to Knothole. There they were greeted with a lavish welcome home party, both for them and for Knuckles, who was re-joining the Freedom Fighters. 

The archeologists explored the pyramid in the Mystic Ruins, but never discovered the shrine to Chaos, deep underground. Knuckles sealed off that section himself, in secret. It was better left undisturbed. 

Robotnik returned to his Final Egg ground base, which would remain hidden for a long time. There he commissioned Metal Sonic to build him a robot that would be as powerful as Chaos, but was completely loyal to his master. Metal Sonic was privately daunted at the enormity of such a request, but promised to begin the necessary research at once. Robotnik would not stir from his base until the robot was complete, and Mecha calculated that he would stay put for the next ten years, as it would be at least that long before the project was completed. 

Thus, at least for a while, Mobius was treated to a time of peace.


End file.
